One Summer
by Lauralogan80
Summary: Helga summer is ruined by the presence of Arnold and Gerald. And Phoebe's betrayal. And that's just the first day...
1. Chapter 1

My Summer Love

I'm bored. I no own.

Arnold couldn't wait! His grandparents were going to be there. Gerald was going to be there! The boarders . . . oh he hadn't seen them in such a long time, and he was incredibly excited. He looked out at the waves crashing onto the shore and smiled, tilting his head to the sun. This was going to be the best summer!

Phoebe looked over at Helga. Helga was staring out the window of the car, glaring at the outside world. Olga was spending summer with them. She was going to meet the Pataki family at the beach. Helga had begged and begged Phoebe to go with her.

Phoebe had said yes, but she had an ulteria motive.

Gerald was going to be at this beach. They had talked about their summer plans, and discovered they were going to the same location. It was going to be great. Okay, Helga was going to be a little peeved that Phoebe was ditching her for Gerald, but maybe she could get along with Arnold . . .

'Yeah, if Arnold wants to spend his summer as a punching bag,' Phoebe thought.

"This is going to be the worse summer ever Phoebe," Helga whispered to her. "No Derek, no parties, ugh! And sand . . . worst summer EVER!"

'Oh, and it's going to get worse' Phoebe thought. Phoebe had been seriously contemplating her friendship with Helga over the last year. She was branching out into new activities, and meeting new people. Helga was different. Helga hung out with Wolfgang, Harold and Patty. Not that Patty wasn't nice. Phoebe liked her, and she seemed to be the only person Helga ever listened too, as strange as it seems.

Helga was into her grunge,rock, punk and metal music. Phoebe liked her classic and pop music.

Helga liked wrestling and parties. Phoebe hated that.

Her and Helga were complete opposites. Helga was as quick tempered as Phoebe was slow. Helga was always ready with her fists. Phoebe believed in words. Helga liked noise. Phoebe liked quiet. And it was very rare that they ever saw each other in school anymore. They shared no classes, didn't sit with each other at lunch-periods. The only time they ever saw and spoke to each other was on the bus. Or out of school hours.

Which is why Phoebe had been so stunned to receive a phone call from Helga begging her to come on this trip with her. Her parents wouldn't allow her to bring Harold or Derek or Wolfgang. They were boys. And Patty had other plans for the summer. Originally Phoebe had declined and Helga had just slammed the phone down on her. Then while talking to Gerald, she had changed her mind. This was the perfect opportunity for her to spend time with Gerald. Alone.

"I don't know, Helga," she said. "This might end up being the best summer ever."

"Yeah, right," Helga snorted.

Arnold's eyes snapped open when he heard a car pull up. He heard some noise coming from the attached bach, then the door flew open and a blonde woman, who kind of looked a little familiar, ran out to a car that was tooting it's horn loudly.

Just behind he saw a green Packard pull in behind the other car, almost colliding. Arnold stood up.

"Mom, Dad! Grandma and Grandpa are here!" he called out, and jumped down the stairs and ran towards the cars. Then he stopped. He recognized the man behind the wheel of the black car.

Big Bob Pataki.

And that could mean only one thing.

Helga G Pataki.

Arnold let out an anguished mental scream. How could his perfect summer be ruined so fast! Gerald hopped out of the car and walked over to Arnold looking at the Pataki's car.

"Hey, man, sorry I didn't warn you," Gerald said.

"You knew they were coming?" Arnold asked.

"Phoebe mentioned it to me. So how ya been man?" he asked holding out his thumb. Arnold smiled as they did their secret handshake.

They turned when they heard a car door slam.

"I hate you! I hate this place! I HATE IT!" Helga screamed and turned around and stalked off down the beach.

"You come back here Little Lady! I'm not your slave! COME BACK HERE AND CARRY YOUR OWN DAMN BAGS!"

"Daddy please, she's had a long drive, all she needs to do is stretch her legs, get some fresh air and she will be fine,"

Arnolds parents came out at the ruckus they had heard.

"Arnold? What's going on? What's all this noise about?" His mother asked.

"Helga G Pataki." He stated, watching as the slim blonde disappeared do the beach.

"Hi, Gerald!" a girl called out, rushing over.

"Oh, hey Phoebe, you remember Arnold, right?" he asked.

"It's very good to see you again Arnold," she said smiling.

"What's wrong with the Bitch?" Gerald asked.

"Oh, she's just mad cause she wanted to go to Sweden this year to be with Inga, but Bob had some kind of apithiny and decided he wanted the family together for the summer. Helga's fuming also, because she's away from Derek. Her boyfriend," she explained to Arnold. Arnold felt his mouth drop open. Helga. Has. A. Boyfriend? Was the guy a nutcase, or just suicidal?

"I bet she is. Damn, no parites, no drugs, no alchol, no sex, how is she going to cope?" Gerald said in a disgusted voice.

"I'm sure she'll find a replacement for Derek round here in no time," Phoebe said flippantly. Arnold stared at her. Was she basically saying that Helga was a slut? He shook his head. No way. Phoebe wasn't like that. Was she?

Helga kicked the sand. How could Phoebe have betrayed her this way? She thought she could rely on Phoebe, no matter what. "I'm so stupid!" Helga yelled at the sea. She only came because she knew Gerald was coming here. Tears slid down Helga's cheeks, and she huridly wiped them away. The water came and surrounded her toes. It was cold, but nice. Helga walked in a little more, up to her knees, and then flopped down. She sat there, letting the waves crash into her body. How could she have been so stupid? Phoebe had become just like those other girls. Sneaky, vindictive, two-faced.

"Helga!" she heard Phoebe call out to her. "Helga, what are you doing?"

"Hoping that by some miracle I will drown," she said.

"Don't be so dramatic," Phoebe said. "I am still going to be here with you. I just want to spend some time with Gerald. Um, Helga, are you aware you have all your clothes on?"

"No, Phoebe, I don't" Helga replied flatly. "I thought I was in my underwear. Oops, my mistake."

Gerald and Arnold came up behind Phoebe.

"Hey Helga," Arnolds voice said.

Helga wanted to rip her ears off just so she couldn't hear that voice. The voice that once brought passion to the surface brought only annoyance.

"Fuck. Off." She said, getting up. "I'm not feeling to much like hanging out with two-faced backstabbers today. Maybe tomorrow though," she said acidly. Then she walked away, further down the beach.

"Where are you going?" Phoebe called.

"To find someone to replace Derek while I'm here!" she yelled back. Phoebe flushed. "Check your phone you idiot, before you say stuff like that about someone!"

Phoebe reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile. Sure enough her phone had called Helgas. "Oops,"


	2. Chapter 2

Helga walked along the street holding back her tears, looking in the occasional shop window, but not really taking notice of anything she saw. She was still reeling from what she'd heard Phoebe saying about her. From Gerald she expected it. But Phoebe?

She should have brought Lila with her. At least she would have had fun. Helga looked at her phone and considered texting or calling her but decided against it. The way her luck was going Lila would ditch her to run around with Arnold. Finally finding bench she sat down and looked out at the waves. This was supposed to be a summer of re-bonding with Phoebe. They hadn't spent much time together lately. Different classes, Phoebe not liking Derek and Helga's new friends. Not even liking Lila.

She smiled at the irony. That she would be best friends with Lila and not Phoebe. She stood up and walked down some stairs to the beach, then sat down on the sand. She knew what people thought about her and her friends. That they drank and did drugs and had orgies and stuff. It wasn't like that. They just hung out like normal groups of friends. Just not at the mall. And they didn't censor their words. They were direct, honest people, which got them a bad name. yes, they had parties, but never with alcohol. That story started when stupid Rhonda showed up with vodka, got pissed, then crashed her car while driving. Not wanting to take the blame she said her drink must have been spiked by Helga's boyfriend's sister, who was hosting the party.

And Helga had made the mistake of turning down Wolfgang once. Of course, that's not what Wolfgang told his mates and scribbled on the walls of the boys toilets. Suddenly Helga had had a string of boys she'd slept with. She often wondered if that were why Phoebe had distanced herself. So she wouldn't be associated with that lot. Helga had found a friend in Lila who went through the same thing. Only she had slept with the guy and he'd taken pictures of her and forwarded them to everyone on his phone, who then kept the picture going. Helga had found her crying in the stall and comforted her with tough love then taken her out to sit with her new friends.

Derek. She sighed. He was amazing. He never hissed her name when she said something out of turn. Never expected her to be someone different. Not like Arnold had. Arnold always seemed to be scolding her for something she said, or did. She had thought, when they started dating, her dreams had come true. How quickly it went from dream to nightmare.

Derek put it down to Arnold not being "mature" enough to handle an actual relationship. "Some can, some can't right now, and some never do," is what he said. For someone so young he seemed to know a lot about people. Or at least it seemed that way to Helga.

Anyway, things had got rocky and they both agreed to bail on the relationship, but damage had been done. Then he moved away. She promised to write, just as they all did, and she did write.

She just never posted the letters.

Eventually after starting to date Derek she just stopped writing. It hadn't been a conscious descision, it just happened.

She looked out at the waves and watched as a girl wiped out on her board. She laughed. They looked so comical.

"You think you could do better?" she heard a voice ask.

She looked around to see a tall blonde with hair flying in every direction. He had a deep golden tan and warm brown eyes.

"I couldn't even get on a board," she said, looking back out at the water.

"I could teach you," he offered. Helga looked up at him.

"Nice pick up line," she said.

"Ha, don't tell my girlfriend," he said. "And I wont tell her you laughed at her falling off her board."

"Sorry," she said.

"Don't be, it was kind of funny," he told her laughing. "Come on, you can use my board, or hers if she's finished with it."

He started walking towards the water, and looked back at her.

"You coming?" he asked.

Helga thought about it for a moment. She wasn't wearing a bathing suit, but she was wearing dark underwear. And it was matching.

"Sure, why not?" she asked, and followed him down to the water.

Phoebe, Gerald and Arnold were sitting on the steps when a jeep pulled up, and Helga jumped out.

"Don't take too long!" called the gorgeous strawberry blonde in the front passenger seat.

They watched as Helga spun around, a big smile plastered on her face, hair damp, and shirt in hand.

"Who are they?" Phoebe asked.

"Kacey and Brianna," she replied, walking past her and into the house. The three of them looked at each other, then Phoebe got up and followed Helga inside.

"You just left me here," Phoebe snapped.

"All things considered Pheebs, didn't think you'd want to hang out," Helga said, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously.

"A party," Helga said, walking into the room they shared.

"Already?" Phoebe asked. Helga spun on her.

"Butt out," she snapped, and changed. Then she grabbed a bag, chucked her phone and wallet in it and walked out, leaving Phoebe behind her.

Helga walked out and for a moment her heart stopped. Arnold and Gerald were talking to Kacey and Brianna. Then, hesitating a little bit, she made her way forward.

"Heeey!" Kacey shouted. "Two gorgeous girls tonight for me, how jealous are all those guys gonna be?" he asked, looking at Arnold and Gerald. "Invited your friends, Helga."

Helga's stomach dropped. Great. Just great. New people for Gerald to put her down to.

"I'll go let Phoebe know," Gerald said, giving her a smug smile. "Relax, it'll be fun," he said quietly, walking past her.

It was at the point that Brianna noticed Helga turn white. Something in her gut was telling her that maybe they shouldn't have invited her "friends".

Helga climbed into the jeep and sat down.

"See you guys there!" Kacey yelled. "WHOOP WHOOP," and they sped away.

"Are you alright back there?" Brianna asked.

"I'm fine," Helga lied.

She was far from fine…


	3. Chapter 3

(Am finally sorting through all these old fics! Forgot I had them lol)

The music was loud, the booze were strong, and the smell of weed was in the air.

And puke if you went closer to the bathroom.

Helga stood to the side talking to a girl in barely anything and laughing. Arnold watched all this while drinking his bourbon and coke.

Helga and the girl put their drinks down then started dancing like they'd known each other forever. It never ceased to amaze Arnold how strangers became best friends when alcohol was involved.

"This is awesome!" Gerald said, putting his arm around Phoebe. He looked at Phoebe, who looked uncomfortable in the current surroundings. Then realised she, too, was looking in Helga's direction. A guy had since joined the girls and was dancing like a loon and making a fool of himself, and Helga and her new friend were cracking up.

"I want to go," Phoebe said just loud enough for Gerald to hear.

"What? Why?" Gerald asked, shocked.

"This just isn't my kind of thing," she said. Gerald looked at her a moment then sighed.

"I'll call you a cab," he said.

"What!" Phoebe squealed.

"I can't drive Pheebs, I've been drinking. If I don't get snapped going one way, I'm sure I would coming back," he told her. Arnold turned his attention back to where Helga was. Another guy was dancing with her, holding her hips and whispering in her ear. She smiled at him, nodded, then walked away.

"I cant believe you!" Phoebe's voice cut through Arnold's concentration and he looked over in time to see Phoebe walking away and Gerald staring after her looking angry.

"What happened?" he asked.

"What happened? She expected me to give up my night of fun because she wanted to go to bed early," he said. "Would have been fine if I was going to be in the bed too, but I wasn't." Gerald walked out after her, finishing his drink, and dropping the bottle in the bin on his way out.

Arnold looked after him, then back to where Helga had gone. He couldn't see her.

"Where's your friend going so early?" Kasey asked.

"His girlfriend wanted to leave. Not her scene or something," he told him. "I'll have to go as well," he said, sighing.

"Just crash here. I can drop you off with Helga tomorrow morning," he said.

Gerald came back in.

"I'm heading off, you coming?" he asked Arnold.

"I think I'll stay here," he said, looking in the direction Helga had gone in.

"Suit yourself," Gerald said, and trudged away, head down.

"Thanks," Arnold told Kacey.

"No worries," he replied, then walked off.

Arnold decided he was going to go find Helga, and started in the direction she had gone. Eventually he came to an open door to see a group of people sitting in a circle, laughing, talking, and passing a joint around. He saw Helga leaning on the girl she had been dancing with earlier.

"Maaaaaate!" a guy said, with a heavy accent, and waved him in. Arnold walked over to where Helga was sitting and sat down next to her. She didn't even notice.

As the joint was passed to Helga's new friend, she took a deep breath in, then faced Helga who breathed the air in as her friend breathed it out. Then they laughed, and Helga took the joint and had some herself.

When she turned to pass it to him their eyes met.

"Your shitting me," she said, throwing it at him and standing up to leave. Arnold passed it on to the next person then got up as well to follow her.

Helga stormed out of the beach house and down onto the beach. She couldn't believe it. The guy just kept ruining her holiday!

"Helga, wait!" he called. That voice! It made her want to scream. She walked faster, but was spun around roughly when a hand grabbed her arm. She stumbled into his arms, but quickly pulled herself upright.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled. And took off down the beach.

Helga finally dropped into the sand and laid down. She was feeling so many different emotions, all of them negative. Usually when she felt this way she called Derek and he came and they talked and everything was right with the world again.

"I miss you," she said to the stars. Then she sighed and wiped away at the tears that had started flowing without her knowing.

What a silly thing to have done. The rum had kicked in a while ago and now the weed was hitting her too. Her head spun and she fell backwards. 'Bugger walking back,' she thought. 'I'll sleep here,' then smiled. Bugger, what a funny word! One of her friends used the word often. Thinking of her friends the tension left her shoulders and the knots in her stomach loosened. Maybe she'd text Derek and her friends back home.

"You've got to be _kidding_ me!" she cried, realizing her phone was in her bag, with her wallet and that the bag wasn't with her. She'd left it behind. "ARGH! Why do you hate me?" she yelled at the sky. No sooner had she yelled those words than her bag landed in her lap, seemingly falling from the sky. She looked up to see Arnold standing there, staring down at her.

"You left something behind," he said.

"No shit," she muttered. "Thanks."

Arnold sat down next to her and also stared out at the stars.

"What's been going on?" he asked, innocently.

"My thanking you wasn't an invitation, Arnold," she told him, pulling her phone out of her bag. She had a message. Excitedly she opened it,

Derek: _Hey beautiful, hows the holiday?_

Helga smiled and answered him,

_Horrible! I miss you!_

Derek: _Maybe I'll stop by ;)_

_Helga's heart did a little pitter-patter, and she fell backwards with a big smile on her face._

"_Helga?" Arnolds voice called out._

"_What?" she snapped, irritation rising. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone?_

"_I've heard what Gerald and Phoebe said. But I was wanting to hear your side," he said._

"_Look, I'm over it, okay? I don't care what you think, I don't care what Gerald thinks, I don't even care what Phoebe thinks anymore," she said, letting sand fall through her fingers. "And I don't need to justify any of my actions to you or anyone else,"_

_Arnold was quiet for a moment, looking out at the sea. Helga glanced at him from the corner of her eye. 'What a pain' she thought, then sighed. Why couldn't he just go away?_

"_I'm not asking you to-"_

"_I got a boyfriend, Phoebe didn't like him because I got wrapped up in him, she resented him and me for it, then Lila came along, and Phoebe started dating Gerald and it all went down hill. End of story," Helga told him, then got up and walked a little farther down the beach. She just wanted to be left alone!_


	4. Chapter 4

(Sorry chapters are small. I write when I have time, and usually in a rush. Two kids and a husband to run round after, plus studies)

Arnold sat there watching her disappear into the darkness. Should he follow or let her go?

He got up and decided to follow her. Who knew what was lurking around out here. If something happened to her, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He only walked for fifteen minutes when he came to her lying on the sand, staring up at the stars.

"Before you yell at me and go stomping off into the night, I should let you know I'm not leaving you alone out here because there's a lot of weirdos in the world, and I don't mean me, and your female and alone," he told her, again sitting down next to her.

Helga smirked. Arnold looked out at the waves for a moment then flopped down on his back. Looking up at all the stars, and listening to the waves crashing onto the beach was soothing and relaxing.

Arnold heard Helga sigh and looked over at her.

"It all started with Derek coming to school," Helga said. "I wasn't in to him at first. I was still pining over you. Anyway, Phoebe flipped head over heels for the guy, which I thought was great, because Derek is a great guy". She stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, then continued.

"Anyway, I got along really well with him, you know as friends. And I tried getting him and Phoebe together, though she was going up against Rhonda. Anyway, about this time I gave into Wolfgang. Guy is persistent. He'd been chasing me for months, and I got fed up and said yes".

Arnold sat up and looked over at her. She was frowning.

"So what happened?" Arnold coaxed. Helga sighed again.

"We went out, he tried it on, I rejected him, he wouldn't take no for an answer, so I got out of his car and walked away. He got pissy-eyed about it all and told me to get back in the car or he'd leave me there. I said "Go then!", and he did. So there I was, stuck alone at night up by the water tower. You know, the one we dressed up as a UFO as kids?" she asked. Arnold smiled at the memory.

"So I was stranded and texted the only other person I knew who had a car at the time, and that was Derek". she stopped and Arnold was going to ask her to continue, but the look on her face said 'I'll tell it in my own time or not at all,' so he stayed silent. A good five minutes went past before she said anything again.

"Derek came and got me," she said. "Phoebe was with him and looking a bit disgruntled by the whole thing. I felt horrible, but when I asked her about it later, she said she was grateful as the "date" hadn't been going so well. Rhonda just happened to be at the movies as well, seeing the same movie, with Nadine, and sort of pushed herself into the mix. Phoebe told me later that she didn't have the feelings for him she thought she had," she finished. "And a little bit of me felt happy. I hadn't even realised it, but being around him, I had slowly started getting feelings for him." Arnold took a breath, and admitted it hurt hearing that. Like a needle was poked into his heart and his lungs was trying to climb up his throat.

He looked away.

"It took me three months to make a move. And only because he made the move first. I spoke to Phoebe about it, and she said that that was fine and she wished us well. I cried Arnold. I actually cried. I was so scared that I would hurt her. But she was over him. At least that's what she said. Looking back now, I think she was just a very good liar," he finished sitting up.

"So jealousy is what started this?" Arnold asked.

"I don't know," Helga answered honestly. "She seemed fine. Initially she supported me after the stunt Wolfgang pulled on me. But then Gerald asked her out, and she accepted. Then she changed. I mean, everyone gets wrapped up in their new boyfriends and girlfriends at first. I understand that. But what happened . . . What happened was different. She stopped talking to me one day. I racked my brain for a week trying to figure it out. By this time Lila and her boyfriend had broken up, and he'd shared naked photo's of her with the whole school," she said, anger creeping into her voice. "I wasn't Lila's biggest fan, but that was just such a horrible thing to do".

Arnold thought about the way Gerald and Phoebe had told it and shook his head. They hadn't mentioned it was a boyfriend . . .

"So one day I go walking into the girls toilets to find her crying in a stall," Helga said softly. "I had a fair idea of what she was going through, and offered her support. People were still saying things behind my back, but you know what? I didn't care. Cause at the end of the day, Derek was there," she said, smiling softly. "So anyway, I started hanging out with Lila, and Phoebe just shut herself off from me completely," Helga sighed. "Eventually we got back to saying 'hi' and then small conversations, but never when Gerald was around. That's why I invited her on this holiday. I thought we could have time alone, to catch up, and re-bond. So you can see, now, why I was so peeved when I saw that Gerald was here with you," she said, grinding her teeth.

Arnold was quiet for a moment, letting it all sink in. then a realization hit him like a train.

"When did you invite her?" Arnold asked.

Helga looked at him. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. He felt so bad for her. He knew there was a lot she was leaving out.

"About six weeks ago. Why?" she asked.

"I told Gerald where I was going to be this summer about three weeks ago. And he said that he thought it would be awesome if he could come catch up with me," Arnold could feel himself getting annoyed as he pieced together what had gone on behind both his and Helga's back. Gerald would have known that Helga was going to be here. And that Phoebe was going to be here too. So his wanting to come "catch up" wasn't so much about catching up with Arnold, but being with his girlfriend all summer. The fact that he could make Helga's summer miserable would have just been a side bonus.

"I cant believe he did this," Arnold said.

"What do you mean?" Helga asked.

"He acted so surprised when he saw that Phoebe was here, like it was some big coincidence. But he would have known. He would have known she would be here, with you and me," he said.

"Maybe that's why they told you bull about me. So I'd be angry at you, and you wouldn't want to talk to me, and it wouldn't be figured out. By you at least," Helga said.

They were both quiet as it all settled in.

"Did you honestly not know Phoebe would be coming?" Helga asked at last, breaking the silence.

"No," he said. He felt horrible. His supposed "best friend" had used him.

He thought for a while, then asked confused, "Don't you hang out with Wolfgang?"

Helga laughed. "No. he's no friend. He talks to Harold occationally, but I try to avoid him if I can. He apologised, but damage was done," she said. "Where would you get that from?"

"Something Phoebe said," he told her.

Helga shook her head.

"Figures".

Helga and Arnold had walked back to the party, talking about old friends and misadventures of childhood. They drank, danced, and Arnold had his first joint. He felt so bad doing it, and Helga had laughed her ass off at him, which made him laugh. It had been a long time since he had felt so relaxed. People started dispersing, and Brianna came to let Helga know where she could sleep.

"Plenty of room," she said, winking at her.

Helga had laughed at her when she had said that, but an hour later she wasn't laughing.

She was lying naked in bed with Arnold, guilt working its way through her body, until it reached her throat and she couldn't hold it in. She got up and threw up in the toilet in the en-suite.

Helga and Arnold felt terrible, Gerald and Phoebe .

All this only got worse as later the next day, after being dropped off by Kacey and Brianna, Helga heard a car door slam and laughing. Familiar laughing.

Lila's laughing.

'What the heck?' Helga asked herself quietly, getting up and walking out to see a familiar car, with a familiar guy behind the wheel, and Lila getting out and running towards her, calling out her name. Helga barely had time to register what was happening before Lila had thrown her arms around Helga's neck in a crushing death hug.

Derek slowly got out of the car and smiled at Helga. Helga's heart stopped for a moment, and the feeling of guilt came back. Then awkwardness as she heard Gerald and Arnold come out and look to see who had shown up.

"Gerald," Lila said coldly. "Oh, Arnold! It's been so long!" she squealed, moving forward to give him a hug. As they greeted each other, Helga walked down the steps to greet Derek.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in shock, and slight delight.

"You said you were having a terrible time, so I thought I'd come cheer you up. Lila wanted to come along, so she did," he told her, holding his arms open. Like steel to a magnet, Helga just fell into his arms and started crying softly. He'd come all this way, just to see her, and what had she done to him just last night?

"Hey, your supposed to be happy," he said with a small laugh.

"I am," she muffled into his shoulder. "I really, really am,"

"Good. So who's this?" he asked looking towards Arnold.

"Oh, Derek, this is Arnold! He's an old school friend of ours," Lila said excitedly. She stopped smiling as Phoebe walked out.

"Hello Lila," Phoebe said.

"Hi," replied Lila awkwardly.

There did stretch a long, awkward silence, as old boyfriend eyes up new boyfriend, old best friend glared at new best friend. It was Gerald who broke the silence with a sword to everyone's guts.

"Arnold is also known as Helga's ex-boyfriend," he said cheerfully. "So you two came back late this morning. Did you guys spend the whole night together?"

Helga felt Derek stiffen, and looked at Arnold, who glared at Gerald, who just smirked.

"Not like that," Helga blurted out. She looked at Arnold. Had he told him? Had he told Gerald what the two of them had done?


	5. Chapter 5

That night was a very awkward night. Derek tried starting conversations with Arnold, but Arnold gave very short answers, that made it clear he wasn't interested in talking to him. Lila took it all in. Helga looked like a deer in the headlights, and she noticed also that there was tension between Gerald and Phoebe. And not of the romantic kind.

'They haven't even been gone a whole week!' Lila thought. 'And already there's some kind of drama going on'.

Lila sighed.

"Are you okay?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's such a wonderful night," she said. "Take me for a walk?" she asked sweetly, looping her arm through his and pulling. He had no choice but to follow her or look stupid.

Helga watched them go and breathed a sigh of relief. Trust Lila to know what to do.

They walked along the beach for about fifteen minutes, Lila looking back to make sure they were far enough away, not to be heard.

This was something that was going to be said between her and Arnold, and would stay with her and Arnold.

"So, what happened between you and Helga?" she asked casually.

Arnold stopped and looked at her.

"Nothing," he said.

Lila laughed her sweet tinkling laugh. Yet, somehow it didn't bring a little song to Arnold's heart. It brought a warning.

"I love Helga," she started. "She helped me through a really bad patch. I suppose you heard about that? If not from Helga, than from Gerald and Phoebe".

"I've . . . Heard some . . . Things," he stuttered.

"Of course you have," she said, smiling at him, then looking out to the sea. "You broke her heart, you know,"

Arnold was quiet for a moment, then sighed, "I know,"

"No, Arnold, I don't think you do," she said sharply. "You really, really hurt her. a lot," she finished. She then turned and looked him straight in the face. "Back. Off".

Arnold took a step back in shock. He'd never heard that tone of voice from Lila. Ever. In fact, if he hadn't heard it himself, he would never believe she had that tone.

"What?" Arnold asked, shocked.

"I love Helga and I love Derek. They're two of my best friends. We've been through a lot together. I watched as he slowly put Helga's heart back together. As she slowly got over the pain of what you did. I don't want to see that all undone because you want to sow oats or whatever," she said, waving her hand in the air dramatically.

"I don't know what you mean," Arnold said defensively.

"Oh, don't lie to me. I know people think I'm stupid, but I'm not. I'm better at putting two and two together than you were. Than a lot of people are. I can see your jealous. Possessive. You want Helga to yourself, for what reason? A root? If I have to drag Helga out of here myself and home, to keep you away from her, I will. And so help me God, if she comes back shattered again, because of you, you'll wish you had never been born," she hissed. She turned to leave, when Arnold grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Are you threatening me?" he asked.

"No. I'm telling you," she said calmly.

"Who do you think you are telling me who and what I can do?" Arnold asked.

Lila laughed.

"I don't care what you do or who you do, just as long as it's not Helga".

"Helga's quite capable of making up her mind, just like she did last night," he told her, smirking.

Lila looked at this young man, who was once so sweet and nice. Whom she once considered a friend. Obviously a lot had happened to both of them over the years to change them.

"You don't love her," Lila said.

They were both quiet, and Arnold looked away, frowning.

"Do you?" Lila asked.

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Oh, Christ, here we go again. Then stay the hell away from her! She's happy! She's with someone who knows he loves her. Every part of her. Even her grumpy, irritable part. Her blunt part. The part you always complained about!" she yelled at him. "And being drunk and stoned doesn't exactly add up to good decision making and judgement".

"How do-"

"I know the look. I've seen it before. Not in a while, but I know it," Lila said, her voice shaking. "Please, Arnold, just leave. Helga. Alone".

Arnold stared at her then walked past her back to the beach house.

"She deserves to be happy, Arnold, and you know it!" Lila screamed at him.

"I could make her happy!" Arnold roared at her.

"No, Arnold, you couldn't," she said. "You'll destroy each other. You, always flip-flopping between loving her, just wanting to be friends, loving her, just wanting to be friends. The poor girl never knew if she was coming or going with you. Derek is stable. He's what she needs. Someone who will say "I love you" and stick with it," she said, practically in tears. Arnold stopped and took a deep breath.

"We'll see," was all he said and he walked away.

"Arrrrrrh!" Lila growled with frustrated. She watched him go, and train heading straight for a head on collision with another train. Well, if she couldn't stop one, perhaps she could stop the other.

Helga shivered under Derek's light touch. She loved it. It was a delicious feeling that gently flowed under the skin, spreading down into her abdomen. She turned and they kissed. Kissing him, the others all melted away. It was just him and her, sitting on the love seat, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder, she breathed in his scent. So lost was she in this little world of her and Derek, she didn't notice Arnold standing there staring at them. It was Lila's voice ringing out that alerted Helga to another presence. Her eyes opened in time to see Arnold stomp up the stairs and into his side of the house. Helga looked towards Lila. Lila looked at her and shook her head. Derek had watched the whole display with curiosity, then looked at Lila.

"Sorry, I tried to keep him away as long as possible," she said apologetically.

Helga sighed. Her happy world gone, the blissfulness of being in Derek's arms fading.

"You tried," she said smiling. "Where are you guys staying?"

"We rented some Motel rooms near-by," Derek murmured into her ears, making her shiver. Lila rolled her eyes good naturedly, used to it.

"Good thing I brought my ipod," Lila said. "Sounds like I'm going to need it".

"I'll go get some stuff," Helga said, and got up to pack some things. Once she was gone and inside, Derek looked at her hard.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Lila asked.

"Something's going on," he said. Lila shrugged.

"I couldn't get it out of Arnold," she lied. She wasn't going to hurt Derek and Helga. She wanted to get Helga alone. Quick. She didn't trust Gerald or Arnold.

"It's Arnold, isn't it?" he asked. "Did something happen?"

"I don't know. I asked, but got nothing," she told him. She felt awful lying to him. But it had to be done.

"Ready," Helga said, coming out. She smiled at the two of them, then stopped seeing the looks on their faces. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Lila said.

Helga looked between the two of them, feeling uneasy. Something was going down . . .

Lila couldn't get Helga alone now. Not after Derek expressing his suspicions. It might make him more suss if she did. She went into her room, looking over quickly to see them practically copulating against the door, and sighed. She really hoped nothing came out about Arnold and Helga.

Helga woke to kisses on her neck, fingers lightly tracing lines and circles up and down her stomach, and a warm glowy feeling in her chest. She smiled and looked over at Derek.

"Good morning, sunshine," he whispered, and kissed her gently on the lips. Pleasure vibes rippled through her body, and she was glad she was lying down, or she would have fallen.

"Good morning," she replied, turning on her side and wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back.

Phoebe finished her breakfast and went out to sit on the love seat. She couldn't believe Helga had ditched her. Again. And for them. Why had she brought her along with no intention of even hanging out with her? Hearing a car she looked up to see Helga, Lila and Derek coming back, all laughing and smiling.

Well wasn't Helga lucky?

"I don't want you guys to go!" she heard Helga almost whine.

"I don't want to go, but I need to get back," Derek said, taking her into his arms and kissing her like he'd never see her again.

Lila rolled her eyes, and made her way over to Phoebe.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

"Hi," Phoebe mumbled.

"What's up?" Lila asked, sitting next to her.

"Nothing I want to talk to you about," she said, looking over at Helga. Lila looked towards Derek and Helga saying good-bye and grimaced.

"Gag!" she said, knocking Phoebe's shoulder with hers. Phoebe smiled.

"Gerald and I broke up," Phoebe told her.

Lila looked at her. Geez, what was she supposed to say? She wasn't sorry.

"Oh, well, plenty more fish in the sea," Lila told her. "We've gotta get going. I wish I could stay".

"I'll bet," Phoebe said bitterly. Lila looked at her in surprise.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"You stole her away at home. Why wouldn't you steal her away on vacation too?" she snapped. "Why couldn't you go find your own best friend? Why did you have to steal mine?"

"How about, instead of asking me that, you ask yourself, why she made a new best friend? Because if my memory serves me right, you had stopped talking to her by the time we became best friends. don't blame your mistakes on me," she snapped, then got up and went over to Helga to give her a hug goodbye.

Phoebe watched the exchanges and the waving good-bye as Derek and Lila drove away.

Lila was right. Phoebe just wasn't ready to admit it out loud yet. At the moment it was easier to blame Lila and Derek and even Helga.

Helga walked back, looking slightly downcast. This was her chance.

"Hey, Helga?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah, Pheebs?" she asked, just like she had a gazillion times in their lives.

"Wanna go get ice-cream or something?"

"Definitely!" Helga said, smiling. "I'm in the mood for mint choc chip".

'There,' Phoebe thought. 'I've taken the first step to fixing my biggest problem'.

And for the first time in a long time she felt good.

Gerald came out in time to see Phoebe and Helga walking off, laughing, like nothing had ever happened. Like they'd never stopped being friends.

Arnold had been quiet and cold towards him, and he was trying to figure out what was up. Whenever he asked, he just got "nothing" in response.

How had this happened in less than a week? Helga and Phoebe had gone from barely speaking, to going off together, and he and Arnold had gone from best friends to barely speaking?

"Poetic justice, maybe?" Arnold's voice said behind him.

Gerald jumped and spn around to look at him.

"What?"

"You just asked, how it could happen? And I said 'poetic justice maybe'," Arnold said.

Gerald looked at him.

"Alright, man, I know something's wrong, so out with it,"

"Your right. There is something wrong. You used me," he accused.

"I didn't use you," Gerald said.

"Oh, so you really wanted to see me? It had nothing t odo with the fact that your girlfriend was going to be here too?" Arnold asked.

Gerald was quiet for a moment.

"That bitch," he said. "This is Helga talking, isn't it? Is that what she said? That I only came here for Phoebe?" he demanded.

"Actually I realised it on my own, but mentioned it to Helga," he said. "But thanks for thinking I don't have a mind of my own,"

"Boys!" a woman hissed, poking her head out the door,. "What is going on? Is everything okay?"

"Everythings fine, mom," Arnold said, not even looking at her.

Stella eyed the two boys warily, then decided to let them sort it out.

"Well, keep it down. Your grandma is trying to sleep," she told them, then closed the door.

"Maybe we should continue this on the beach," Gerald said.

"Yeah. Maybe we should".


	6. Chapter 6

For the next three weeks, both Helga and Phoebe avoided the boys. Helga, because she didn't trust herself with Arnold yet, and Phoebe because . . . well, she felt she needed a break. Plus she was enjoying spending time with Helga. In the time that they had been "estranged" Helga had changed. a lot. She was seeing a different side to Helga that she had glimpsed in the past part-time, but this new Helga seemed in a good mood almost full-time. The only exception being a few days of the month in which, lets face it, even Phoebe wasn't the best to be around.

Phoebe had also developed a small crush on Kacey, who, after much coaxing from Helga, Phoebe agreed to let teach her, too, to surf. So most days were spent on the beach, in the water. They did a bit of shopping in the local shops, ate at cafes "like mature young ladies", Helga would say in her "Rhonda voice". Phoebe again went to some parties, a couple on the beach, but more at "The Beach Haus" as it was nick-named. Sometimes Gerald and Arnold were there, sometimes not. Or if they were, Helga and Phoebe didn't pay much notice. Phoebe enjoyed parties much more with Helga than with Gerald, as she didn't feel the need to put so many constraints on herself. For the first time in a long time she allowed herself to be herself. Not who Gerald thought she was.

And this didn't make Gerald too happy. It took a week after their argument to start talking again, and then it was only when necessary. Then watching his friend pine over her made him annoyed. What was it about Helga that attracted people?

Arnold had been moping, because it seemed Helga was avoiding him, which drove Gerald nuts. It seemed that this guy moped over Helga a lot. For different reasons this time, sure, but still. On the fourth week Lila and Derek came back. Now, Arnold wasn't just moping, he was down right angsty. Gerald didn't pay much attention to his problems as he should because he was thinking of his own. Just as Helga seemed to be avoiding Arnold, Phoebe seemed to be avoiding him. This wasn't how he planned for his summer to pan out.

"Man, distract Lila," he said to Arnold.

"What? Why?" Arnold asked.

"Because, man, I need to talk to Pheebs," he whispered, looking over to where Lila and Phoebe were sitting. He looked further to where Derek and Helga were playing in the water together. He sighed, got up and went over to talk to the girls. Gerald didn't hear what Arnold said, but it made Lila frown then get up and walk away with him. He took his chance and sat down next to Phoebe.

"Hey," he said casually.

Phoebe tensed, then turned and looked at him.

"Hi," she said, then picked up her book and started reading. Gerald sat next to her quietly for a moment, then tried again.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said. Phoebe looked at him surprised. Gerald was apologizing?

"For what?" she asked, not believing it.

"For being a jerk that night at the party. And all those other times," he told her, taking her hand in his. "I'm a selfish jerk sometimes".

"Yes. You are. Quite often, in fact," Phoebe said flatly.

Gerald fought down the urge to yell, and just nodded.

"Look, I miss you baby, and I want another chance," he told her, looking contrite.

Phoebe mulled it all over in her mind. Maybe he was genuinely sorry. But a part of her doubted it. Shed been dating him long enough to know that he hardly ever, if never, admitted to being wrong.

"I'll think about it," she said cautiously.

"Great," he smiled, and kissed her hand. Phoebe smiled. She did miss this silly side to him.

"So," Lila started. "Have you thought anymore on what I said?"

Arnold nodded. He and Helga had unfinished business, and he was determined to finish it. He'd hurt a few girls back home because of her. She seemingly left the relationship unscathed. Arnold couldn't say the same for himself.

He looked in the direction of Helga and Derek. 'That should be me with her', he thought, but he asnt going to let Lila know his thought.

"Your right. She does need someone to be there for her and be stable. And love her," he said.

Lila smiled triumphantly. Arnold wanted to wipe it off her face, and knew exactly how he was going to do it.

"Which is why I'm coming back to school with you guys in the new school year," he finished, smiling at her.

Lila's face fell and her mouth dropped open.

"Well, I cant provide her with all that if I'm not around, right?" he asked, feeling a sense of satisfaction at that smirk flying off her face, and fury building in her eyes.

"If you so much as-"

"As what, Lila? I haven't done anything wrong. Helga did. I'm holding the gun, Lila. Not you, not Helga and not Derek. Me".

And with that he walked back to the beach house, leaving Lila standing there shocked.

And he smiled.

Rhonda Lloyd was lounging around her room, her friends giggling and gossiping, when she heard her phone go off. Looking at the message she saw it was from Gerald.

_Insurance. Chek ur email._

Rhonda frowned. Very rarely did she and Gerald talk. So it was with curiosity that she did as he said. She saw the email from him and opened it. Attached was a file. She opened that.

"OH MY GOD!" she exclaimed out loud.

"What is it?" Nadine asked, bounding onto the bed next to Rhonda. She turned the laptop so Nadine could see.

"Holy shit! Is that Helga and . . . Arnold!" she asked in shock.

"Yep. That's them alright. Oh, geez, there's even video," Rhonda said. She stared at it for a moment then smiled.

Insurance for Gerald.

Ammunition for Rhonda . . .

The night before Derek and Lila were to leave, Lila pulled her aside to go "for a walk". when Lila felt they were far enough away, she confronted Helga.

"I know about you and Arnold and what happened," she said.

Helga stopped walking and looked at her, slowly turning white.

"What? What do you mean? nothing happened," she told her.

"Arnold blabbed it out when I was here last, so I've had a lot of time to sit and stew on this," she told her. "Derek doesn't know. I would never tell him. But if I were you Helga, I would. I know you think all's well with Phoebe and you, but I don't trust those three. Gerald is too smug, Arnold is too determined, and Phoebe just decides randomly that she's been a bad friend and wants to make up for it?"

Helga was quiet for a moment.

"I know," she whispered softly. "But you know what they say: keep your friends close, and your enemies closer".

"There's also the saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Lila said. "You have a few back home, Helga, deserved or undeserved. I just don't want this all coming out to Derek second-hand, which you know as well as I do, is always worse".

"What could Gerald do?" Helga asked.

"I don't know. Blab to someone? Or maybe just plant a seed in one person's ear and see how it goes?" Lila went quiet. "Also, with Arnold coming back -"

"What!" Helga yelled.

"Arnold. He's coming back. You didn't know?" Lila asked.

"No. No, I didn't. Why?"

"Maybe he wanted to surprise you," she said.

"No, not why didn't he tell me. I mean, why? Why is he coming back?" Helga asked.

Lila was quiet. She had a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Nothing good was about to come of all this.

Helga and Derek took a walk that night. Lila was right. Better he heard it from her than someone else. And her luck, someone else would find out and tell him eventually. And it would be near impossible to keep it a secret _with_ the secret in the same school!

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, as they stood on the shoreline, letting the waves flow over their feet. Helga felt the ball of anxiety in her stomach turn into a bomb and explode.

"Isleptwitharnold" she mumbled.

Derek was quiet a moment.

"Did you just say you slept with Arnold?" he asked. "Because you weren't the clearest".

Helga just nodded, then dropped to the sand and started crying.

"I'm so sorry!" she wailed. A wave knocked into her and she fell back on her bum. If what she had said hadn't been so serious, Derek would have laughed. But he didn't feel like laughing.

"When?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"The night before you and Lila visited the first time," Helga sniffed, not even bothering to get up.

Derek was quiet for the longest time. It was like time had frozen, but his face hadn't. Helga watched as a myriad of emotions played across his face, anger, hurt, sadness, confusion . . . Finally he sighed.

"I wondered," he said. "The way you were acting when I was here last," he sighed again.

They were both quiet, Helga sitting in the sand, waves crashing into her, Derek just standing still, and thoughtful, staring at the ocean.

He looked calm on the outside. But on the inside he raged. He raged at Helga for being so unfaithful and not telling him the truth from the start, he raged at Lila, because he knew she knew. He didn't know how he knew, but she did. And he raged at Arnold. Who had once broken Helga's heart, thrown it away, waited til someone else had picked it up and fixed it, then had the cheek to come back in and try to take it back. Then again at Helga for being so stupid for letting this happen. He wanted to hit people and break things, but he knew it wouldn't make the situation any better. If anything it would make it worse. He looked at Helga, who was sniffling and wiping her eyes. She's usually so tough. To see her sitting on the ground, crying and apologising to him over and over, nearly broke his heart. Nearly. He was still too angry to say anything.

"We have two weeks of holidays left," he said. _If you love something set it free, right? _he thought to himself. "Let's take a break, not talk until you come back. That should give me time to cool down. Cause I'm too angry to talk about this right now," he admitted to her.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Helga asked, a fresh sob coming from her after she said the sentence.

Derek looked at her. Inside he was shaking his head, _'if Helga before the holidays could see the Helga now, say it was a lie and that it must be of her sister!' inside he smiled at the thought. Outside he just shook his head._

"_I don't know. Lets just give each other some space to think," he whispered, finally looking down at his feet._

_Helga got up and wrapped her arms around his waist._

"_I really am really, really, sorry," she said quietly._

"_Well, you think about why your sorry, and I'll think about how I feel," he said, unwrapping her arms from his waist. "I really just need to leave". _

_And he left Helga standing on the beach in her wet sundress in tears._

"_Where's Helga?" Arnold asked Phoebe the next morning._

"_In bed. I think Derek and her broke up. She's been crying all night, but wont talk about it," she said, looking back at the door to the beach house. "Please don't tell Gerald," she begged._

"_I wont," he said, looking at the door himself. After the way Gerald had been behaving he had no intention of giving him any kind of satisfaction. "I might go see her," he said._

_Phoebe moved aside, and let him in, not knowing anything of what had gone on between Arnold and Helga._

_Helga had her face buried in the pillow in the off chance that she may suffocate to death. So far it wasn't going as planned. But maybe if she kept at it long enough…_

"_Helga?" a voice called out. She took her face out of the pillow and looked to see who it was._

"_Go away, Football-Head!" she groaned. She stuffed her face back into the pillow._

_He didn't go away. She knew because she felt the matress beside her sink a bit under his weight._

"_I'm really sorry," he said, reaching out and touching her hair._

"_Your sorry?" she asked. "Why are you sorry?"_

_Arnold was silent. He hated it when he got caught out in a lie._

"_Yeah, I thought so," Helga grumbled, and threw her face back into the pillow. Shs shuddered in a silent cry, then turned to look at him. "I'm sorry I slept with you," she said. "I'm sorry I told Derek."_

"_I'm sorry I broke up with you all those years ago," he said. He laid down next to her, since she wasn't going to get up and look at him. "Maybe its for the best?"_

"_No. no, its not for the best. If you were going back where you came from after the holidays, then yes, it would be. But your not, are you? Your coming back to Hillwood"._

"_Lila told you, huh?" he said._

"_Why?" she asked._

"_Well, mostly because my parents are. My grandmother's been pretty sick, and dad's worried about her," he admitted. Helga looked away, feeling bad for thinking such selfish thoughts. "Can't say I was cut up about it, cause I wasn't. I was really looking forward to seeing you again, and maybe picking up where we left off. Before the break-up I mean"._

_Helga was quiet. What could she say?_

"_So imagine my surprise when Phoebe and Gerald told me you had a boyfriend," he continued. Helga turned her head to look at him. He smiled at her. "It didn't put me off, though," he said. "I still want another chance, Helga"._

_Helga just laid there quietly, staring at him. Was he serious?_

"_Derek broke up with me," she moaned, then went back to crying._

_Arnold sighed. Looked like he had a long day ahead of him._


	7. Chapter 7

Phoebe couldn't help it. She was talking to Gerald and sitting on the love seat, sharing headphones and listening to music on his phone. She was starting to forgive him and was about to say so, when Arnold's dad stuck his head out and called him in. his father was on the phone for him. Gerald went in, leaving the phone with her. Bored, Phoebe went through the phone, looking for some music. She accidently went into his Pictures folder, and went to get out til she saw what looked like porn. She looked to make sure Gerald wasn't coming out, then went into pictures. Her jaw dropped. She couldn't believe her eyes. When had he taken these? How could he take these? What was Gerald planning to do with these? Blackmail Helga? Humiliate her and Derek in front of the whole school? Then it occurred to her:

Gerald didn't know Derek knew.

She almost laughed. Without even knowing it, Helga had stayed one step ahead of Gerald . She shook her head. She deleted them from Gerald's phone. It had to have been done before he'd found out Arnold was going to be going to school with them all again. Did he have any idea what this would do to his and Arnold's friendship? Or did he hate Helga so much that he just didn't care?

She left the folder, picked up her own phone and text Lila.

Forewarned is forearmed.

She went inside to talk to Arnold and Helga. They both needed to know. She pushed her feeling of being stupid. She went to open the door but heard quiet talking coming from within. She stood there for a moment, then decided to peek in. Opening the door as quietly as possible she peeked in to see Helga and Arnold lying on the bed. Helga was on her stomach, listening to him, Arnold on his side talking. She closed the door again and walked away.

It could wait.

At some point Helga had fallen asleep listening to Arnolds voice. When she opened her eyes it was dark and Arnold was asleep next to her. She didn't know what to make of that. She knows she fell asleep before him, but that he had stayed even after she was asleep? Creepy or cute? She sighed and moved carefully onto her back. Where was Phoebe?

She looked over at Arnolds sleeping form then made the decision to get up and fine Phoebe. Moving as carefully as she could she climbed over him, and tiptoed out of the room. Sighing deeply, she made her way into the main room. Olga was doing the dishes, and Phoebe was sitting outside.

"Are you alright, baby sister?" Olga asked in her overly sweet voice.

"I'm fine, Olga. Thankyou," and she went outside and sat next to Phoebe.

"How are you doing, Helga?" she asked in Japanese. Helga looked at her in surprise. The only time Phoebe used Japanese was to tell a secret or discuss something important she didn't want other people knowing.

"I'm okay," she answered.

"He had photo's of you and Arnold together that night," Phoebe told her.

"Your joking!"

"No. I have deleted them. He must have gone back to the party at some point that night and found the two of you in your compromising position, and took photos of it," she said angrily. If she hadn't seen the photo's herself she honestly wouldn't have believed that Gerald would stoop so low.

Which made her feel even stupider for having been so fleeced.

"I can't believe it. I mean I can, but wow!" Helga said. Phoebe nodded.

"I have informed Lila of the situation," she said.

They were both quiet for a moment.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Phoebe asked. "Why did you keep it a secret?"

"Because you were with Gerald," Helga said.

"You mean, you didn't trust me?" Phoebe asked, hurt.

"Pretty much," she said. "A lot has happened to me Pheebs, and I always wanted to call you and tell you like we always had. But once you were with Gerald I couldn't. and you seemed so distant after you started dating him . . ."

"Oh, Helga, I'm so sorry!" she cried, throwing her arms around Helga's neck. "I was so foolish!"

"Nah. You were just in love. I've been there remember?" she asked, returning the hug.

"Do you think Arnold knows?" she asked suddenly.

Helga thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"No. he wouldn't have known. He didn't even know we were going to be here. And when he found out Gerald knew, he was pretty hurt. Or seemed to be," Helga told her, still in Japanese. She sighed. "Oh, well, at least I know. And they're gone right?"

"Right. I deleted all the pictures I could find," Phoebe told her smiling.

Arnold woke up with a start. He looked around the strange room, and took in the feminine smeel he knew didn't belong to him.

It belonged to her.

He sat up and looked around for a bit, then decided he had probably better go back to his side of the beach house. When he got outside though he saw Phoebe and Helga sitting down and talking in Japanese. He listened a bit, but didn't understand a word. Eventually they hugged, finished their conversation and got up. They both looked like two deers caught in the headlights when they aw he had been standing there.

"Don't worry. I didn't understand a word," he told them, getting ready to go inside. Helga reached out a grabbed his arm making him turn to look at her.

"We need to talk," she said seriously, glancing quickly at Phoebe, then back to him.

He looked at Phoebe as well, but she looked away and went inside.

"Okay. What do we need to talk about?" he asked.

"Not here. Somewhere else," she said, tugging his arm and leading him away from the beach house. Arnold was getting that déjà vu feeling. every time he was led away from the house and onto the beach, the conversation to follow never ended well.

"He knows," Helga said.

"What? Who? Knows what?" he asked, confused.

"Gerald. He knows what we did," she told him.

Arnold was quiet for a moment.

"But how?" he asked. "I didn't tell him, if that's what you think".

"He must have come back to the party that night looking for you, and found the two of us . . . You know," she said. "He took photo's on his phone".

Arnolds jaw dropped. Gerald had taken photo's? he'd actually stood there, watching them in their most intimate moments, and took photo's. Arnold shook his head.

"No. no way. Gerald wouldn't do that," he said, moving away from her.

"Well, he did. Phoebe has no reason to lie," she said.

Arnold stared at her hard, then looked away. His best friend. His own best friend, had done that? Arnold shook his head.

"No. she must have seen something else," he said, denial creeping in. Gerald wouldn't do this to him.

"Whatever. All I know is, Phoebe found them, Phoebe deleted them, and that's that," Helga said, starting to walk away. Arnold grabbed her arm.

"What reason would he have to take those photo's? and isn't it a little convenient that Phoebe just happened to erase the evidence?" he asked. Anything. It had to be anything, but what Helga had just told him . . .

"I don't know," she admitted. "But Phoebe wouldn't lie about something like this".

"Well, she lied about other stuff about you, didn't she?" he threw back at her.

Helga stared at him a moment, then shrugged.

"Whatever, Arnold. I have more important things to worry about," she said, and walked away again.

Arnold let her go this time. She had to be wrong. Phoebe had to be lying. Gerald wouldn't sink that low. Ever.

Would he?

Gerald heard the door slam and Stella ask Arnold if he was okay. He heard him say "fine", but he sounded anything but "fine". He looked down at his phone, then at the door as it was flung open hard enough to hit the wall behind it.

"Dude, what's wrong?" he asked, even though he pretty much already knew the answer. Only one person in the world could rile Arnold up like this.

"She's frustrating!" he yelled. "One minute she's bawling on my shoulder, the next she's pissing me off!" He punched his pillow, and Gerald's eyes opened wide and he backed up a bit more.

"Okay. Take a breath and calm down and tell me what she's done this time?" he asked.

Arnold stared at him hard for a moment. He had a look in his eye that Gerald didn't like.

"Did you take pictures of Helga and me?" he asked. Gelrad's heart stopped for a second.

"What do you mean?" Gerald chocked out. 'Oh fuck'.

"Helga said . . . You know what? Never mind. It doesn't matter what she said," he sat down with a sigh.

Helga knew about the pictures? But how?

Phoebe.

That cow had gone through his phone! It's the only way Helga could have found out. And he'd left his phone with Phoebe yesterday. He felt hurt by this betrayal, but mostly he was just angry. How could she? After everything she's ever put up with, being friends with Helga, she still went back to her! 'Keep cool,' he told himself. 'You can't lose it. Arnold will know. Arnold can't know what I did. He'd never forgive me'.

_Good thing I sent you the pics. Phoebe deleted them off my phone. Still have the vid tho_

_Rhonda read the text several times, then deleted it. She sighed and fell backwards onto her bed. It was amazing. She had been looking to get back at Helga for "stealing" Derek since she had found out the two had started dating. 'I mean, really? Helga Pataki over me? Hah' she had thought. And she had been angry and yeah, jealous, when she'd found out. Shed sworn then that she'd get back at her. But she'd never had the opportunity._

_But now she did._

_And she had a couple more weeks to pull her plan together._

_She smiled._

_Gerald continued cosying up to Phoebe, not revealing that he knew what she had done. She was pleasant, but distant, and seemed to be drifting further away._

_Arnold was sulking and would steal glances Helga's way, but they had not spoken again. And so passed the second to last week._

_It was half way through the next week before Arnold had finally had enough and approached Helga one day as she was coming in from a swim. He'd stood by her gear watching and waiting for her. Gerald had talked Phoebe into a walk. So he had a while._

_She saw him and he saw her hesitate for a second, then keep coming towards her stuff. She didn't have a choice. She'd have to face him._

"_What do you want?" she asked. She bent down to pick up her towel and started drying her hair._

"_To talk," Arnold said._

"_About what?"_

"_Us," he stated simply._

_Helga sighd and looked at the sand, then to the side, then the sky, then back at him._

"_There is no 'us', Arnold," she said. She looked back down at the sand, shaking her head. "There was one night. That's all," she told him._

"_You have to face this, Helga. We're going to school together. that's a year in the same building, maybe even classrooms. Same town. Same aquaintences. We cant avoid each other forever," he said._

_Helga looked at him._

"_Don't you think I know that!" she yelled at him. "I hate this. I'm going home hoping to fix things with my boyfriend-"_

"_Ex. You broke up. Technically your single," Arnold said, moving closer, and reaching out to touch her arm. She pulled away._

"_Please, Arnold, just leave me alone," she begged, her voice breaking. "I don't want things to go back to how they were"._

_Arnolds arms dropped at his sides. Then he ran his hands through his hair. He started counting to ten in his head._

"_Why not?" he asked._

"_Why not?" Helga chocked out. "He asks 'why not?'". Helga let out a laugh. "Because we make each other miserable," she told him._

"_Not miserable. Not me anyway. Frustrated at times, sure. But you never made me unhappy," Arnold told her._

"_Then why were you always trying to change me? Everything I did, everything I said, it was always wrong to you," she said. _

"_I wasn't-"_

"_You were, Arnold!" she screamed. "All the time! It was always, "Helga, you shouldn't have said that, you shouldn't have said this, why did you do that? You should have done it this way, blah blah blah!"_

"_I didn't -"_

"_You did! All the time!" she screamed, pushing him backwards. "You flip flopped. One minute it was "I love you," the next it was "This is going to far", but then it was "I still love you, I just think we should cool down" and you did it all the time. You were controlling! You were fucking with my head. I hated it. By the time you left I hated you!" she fell down onto the sand. "I hated you," she whispered._

"_I'm sorry," he said._

"_You made me feel so horrible. Then we broke up, and you left and it all just sat there, like old milk. Then Derek came along. He fixed it. He made me feel good about who I was. He'd say 'I love you,' and not take it back ten minutes later"._

"_We were young. We didn't know how to deal with those feelings," he said. Helga shook her head._

"_No, Arnold. You didn't know how to deal with those feelings," she said. "I did"._

_Arnold sat down next to her._

"_I love you, Helga. And I'm sorry. But I think we could work this time around," he said, reaching out and holding her hand. She looked up at him._

"_You really think so?" she asked. Arnold smiled._

"_I do," he said. Helga sighed, took her hand back, and threw her towel in her beach bag._

"_Well, your on your own, bucko, because I don't," she said, and with that she got up and walked away._


	8. Chapter 8

(thinking of writing a prequel….)

"Our last night of vay cay," Helga said to Phoebe, flopping down on her bed.

"I know. Strange. So short a time, but it feels like so much longer!" Phoebe said.

Helga nodded and closed her eyes. So much had happened. And she couldn't stop the sinking feeling in her stomach that told her so much more was yet to come . . .

Arnold finished packing his stuff and looked over at Gerald. Now was the time to tell him.

"I'm coming back to Hillwood," he said. He was expecting Gerald to jump up and be happy. Or shout for joy. Or something.

But not the reaction he did get.

Gerald looked up, shocked.

"What?" he finally chocked out.

"I'm coming back to Hillwood, " Arnold repeated.

Gerald was sure he was having a heart attack. Arnold couldn't come back.

He'd find out about the photo's.

About the video.

He had to stop Rhonda!

"I can't believe it," Helga said. "Vacation is over and we're back at school".

"I know. And what a crazy summer we had," Phoebe agreed.

"Well, it's over, hopefully, and everything will be back to normal," Lila said. Then smiled at Phoebe. "Well, almost. But this is a good change," she said smiling.

Phoebe, Lila and Helga linked arms and walked into the building with smiles on their faces.

That were quickly wiped off.

People stopped talking and looked their way, specifically at Helga. She ignored it at first, but then when she noticed people looking and whispering she started to get concerned.

Especially when they then saw Arnold walking in. Gerald was with him but looked sick.

"Hello, Gerald," Phoebe said pleasantly. He just nodded.

"Are you sure your alright?" Arnold asked him.

"I need to go. You share homeroom with Lila and Helga," he told him, then walked away.

An awkward silence fell, as they four looked at each other. Phobe broke the silence.

"I should go, too," she said. She gave Helga a hug and Lila a wave. "See you guys after school," and then she left.

"Well, we should probably be going as well," Lila said quietly. Helga glanced at Arnold first, then asked Lila if she had seen Derek. Lila shook her head. Helga looked down, frowning.

"Guess I'll see him in homeroom then," she said and walked off ahead of them.

She felt uneasy.

Arnold didn't just share homeroom with Lila and Helga.

Derek was there too.

Derek was reading a book. He had seen the pictures. To be told you girlfriend had cheated on you was one thing. It could be forgiven, maybe convince yourself in your head that it was some sick rumor.

But to see it. To have images of it in your head, to know that the rest of the school knew and saw what your girlfriend had done? And yet, as angry as he was at Helga, it was nothing compared to how he was feeling towards Rhonda.

He knew the motive behind it, of course. She's been like a rash all summer. As soon as Helga was gone, the girl started texting him and would just "happen" to be in the same place: the Mall, parties, the movies. He even expected her to one day show up in his bathroom while he was taking a shower, she was that annoying. One thing he loved about dating Helga was that he wasn't bombarded by girls constantly. At least not when she was around. Rhonda had wanted him since he'd shown up. It was what threw him and Helga together in a way. Helga was fighting for Phoebe, and Rhonda was fighting for herself. Phoebe had always been so shy and quiet, and it was awkward trying to talk to her. Plus there was Gerald Johansson breathing down his neck all the time.

So he confessed to Helga one night, after storming out of Rhonda's party, that he wasn't interested in Phoebe or Rhonda. He was interested in her. He'd seen the shock and slight dismay. And she'd left him standing on the street feeling like a dick when she shook her head and took off. She didn't speak to him for a week, avoided him in hallways, then finally met up with him in the park, confessed that she was still getting over a break-up, filled him in on the details, felt guilty for having feelings for him when her friend had, but said she'd give him a chance. Two weeks after that Phoebe started dating Gerald and drifted away from Helga. Part of him felt bad, like it was his fault (he found out from Phoebe it was, but never told Helga about it), and understood Gerald's hostility towards him, to a point.

So he could see the motive's of both for doing this.

But it didn't take away the hurt. He was supposed to meet Helga after school today, in the park, in their spot, but decided then that he couldn't face her. Not today. He looked up when he heard whispers starting up and small hushed giggles. He saw Lila staring at him with sorriness in her eyes.

Helga had walked into the room. With Arnold trailing behind her. He looked around the room, blushing. Derek glared at him when their eyes met, and Arnold looked away. Good. Helga started toward her seat, leaving Arnold standing at the front of the room, waiting to be introduced. She took her usual seat, pulled out her notebook and pen, just like she always did, and slouched down, like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Like there weren't pictures of her and another guy all over school having sex. Like her ex-boyfriend, her first love, wasn't standing in the same room as both her and him.

He shook his head. He just didn't think he could do it.

Not with the guy here too.

Phoebe managed to cross paths with Helga and Lila, Arnold and Derek, while going between classes.

It was Lila who saw it first upon opening her locker.

CHEATER! Was scrawled across a picture of Helga and Arnold.

"Oh my god, no!" Phoebe cried in dismay. "I deleted them. I'm sure I did!"

Helga stared at the picture in shock. Then went to her own locker and opened it up. Four pictures were stuck to the inside of her locker. All of her and Arnold. Her face went red. Her anger bubbled to the surface.

She was going to kill him!

"There's a video, too," Rhonda's smug voice said behind her. She turned to look at the girl. Phoebe had come up behind Helga and gasped when she saw what Helga had found. Rhonda smiled at Phoebe.

"Gerald sent them to me before you deleted them. And in any case, you didn't delete the video," she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "You made it too easy," she laughed, walking away.

Helga reached out, grabbed Rhonda's hair and pulled her back, slamming her face first into the lockers. It had been a long time since Helga had used violence on anyone, and some had obviously became a bit complacent around her. Then she pulled Rhonda's head back and smashed her fist straight into the girls face, feeling cartilage give way under it. Rhonda put up her arms to shield anymore attacks, but it didn't work. There was chanting and screaming, but Helga ignored it all. She got Rhonda on the floor and it was all on. Even when she felt strong arms lift her off the other girl, Helga grabbed a handful of hair and pulled it.

"Helga, let go," Arnold's yelled in her ear. She kicked her foot out, hitting Rhonda in the jaw, then let go. Arnold swung her around, and with Derek's help (who risked life and limb to grab her around the knees), the two of them carried her in the opposite direction, while Nadine and Katrinka helped Rhonda to her feet, and went in the other, towards the nurse's office.

Gerald had watched the whole display with a bit of shock. Then he locked eyes with Helga. No, not Helga. Helga G. Pataki.

"Wait til I get my hands on you," she threatened, as Harold and Arnold, literally, carried her away

Only one thought went through Gerald's head: 'Oh, shit.'

"Rhonda Wellington Lloyd has been taken to hospital," the Principal told Helga.

"Good. I hope she croaks," she muttered under her breath.

"What did you say, Miss Pataki?" she asked. Helga shook her head. "The school day hasn't even begun, and already your in trouble," she said. "Why? I haven't seen you in here for fighting in just under a year. And now this? The first day back?"

Helga looked down, trying not to cry. She was thinking about Derek. Hearing that your girlfriend or boyfriend had cheated on you was bad enough. But to actually see it? Helga dug out the least revealing photo and placed it on the table, thankful that the Principal was a woman. She picked it up and glanced at it, her mouth opened into an O.

"She put copies into everyone's locker," Helga told her quietly.

"Well . . . well . . ." the Principal was obviously lost for words. She cleared her throat. "I'll take this into account, and it will be dealt with by the authorities. Due to your age and such . . ."

Helga looked at the Principal. She liked Mrs. Baker. She was in her late fourties, and was known for being fair. She felt bad the woman. She obviously hadn't come across this kind of problem.

She looked at the photo again and shaking her head.

"She said she has a video, too," Helga said.

"Well, that's for you to discuss with the police when they arrive," Mrs. Baker said. "Please go to the waiting room, and I will send for you when the police arrive."

Helga nodded, and stood up collecting her bag. She walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind her and sighing.

"Are you okay?" she heard someone ask. She looked to see Arnold standing there, a slight blush on his face.

"Embarrassed. Angry," she told him

"I'm with you on that. Not exactly the welcome back I expected," Arnold said. Helga let out a small laugh.

"Welcome back to Hillwood, Football Head," she said.

"I guess you were right about Gerald," he said, looking down at the floor.

"You need to get to class. Where are you?" she asked. Telling her, she cringed inside. Same class as Derek. This had to be the worst start to the school year that _anyone_ had _ever _had _anywhere_, _ever!_

"_So what did the Principal say?" Arnold asked._

"_She's bringing in the police," Helga told him. "They night ask to speak to you, but I doubt it. You didn't assault anyone."_

"_She's bringing them in only for that?" he asked, thinking of the pictures._

"_No. The distributing of the pictures as well, are a concern due to our age. And the video. I don't know what can be done, we're all minors legally, so . . ." Helga trailed off, then sighed. Then looked around._

"_Where's Derek?" she asked._

_Arnold was quiet for a moment._

"_He left," he finally said._

"_What do you mean, left?" she asked._

"_He left," Arnold said shrugging._

_Helga bit her lip. She needed to talk to him. Desperately, but she also needed to stay to talk to the police._

_What should she do?_

_Arnold seeing the deliema raging inside her offered her a bit of advise he hoped he wouldn't regret._

"_Wait for the police. Talk to them, then leave. I don't think you'll be staying in school the rest of the day anyway," he told her. "I'm gonna get a pass then go to class. I'll call you tonight?"_

_Helga nodded, not even really hearing what he had said._

"_Good luck," he whispered, kissing her cheek. That brought Helga back to the present._


	9. Chapter 9

Gerald cleared his throat as he walked down the hallway to the Principles office. He knew this had to do with the fight that had happened in the hallway between Helga and Rhonda. He didn't know why he was being called in, unless he'd been linked to the pictures.

But what's the worst that could happen, right? Suspension?

His heart stopped when he walked in to see a policeman and policewoman standing in the office, talking to Helga. Why were the police here?

The female cop looked up at him, and nodded to let the other one know he was in there. They spent another couple of minutes with Helga, then she got up and left, glaring at him as she went past. He swallowed past the huge lump in his throat, freaking out completely.

"Gerald?" he heard his mother's voice ask behind him. He turned around to find his parents standing there.

"What's going on son?" his father asked. "What did you do?"

Gerald didn't know what to tell them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Johannson?" the woman cop asked. They all looked up at her. "Is your lawyer on his way?"

Mr. Johannson nodded.

"Okay, good. Could we please speak to you a moment to let you know why your son has been called and your lawyer requested?" she asked, indicating that they were to go into the room. They looked again at Gerald, then entered, the cop closing the door behind them. About three minutes in he heard his father's angry voice rise. "He did what!"

The only thing scarier than facing the police, was going to be facing his father.

…...

Rhonda pouted., but continued flipping through the magazine on her lap. Her parents were talking to the police outside her room, and their lawyer was there too. She didn't know what they would do to her, but figured it couldn't be much. She sighed throwing her magazine aside, and picking up a new one.

How boring .

…...

Helga walked to her and Derek's spot. She figured that that was where he would have gone. Whenever either of them had a bad time they always went there, both knowing the other would be there. And she was right. He was sitting under a tree looking at the fountain. She quietly made her way over and sat down next to him.

"Hi," she said tentatively. Would he speak to her?

"Hi," he said, looking at the sky.

Ok, so he couldn't look at her right now. But at least her had spoken to her, right?

"So, um-" she started, but he cut her off.

"I really don't want to talk right now," he said, standing up and looking down at her. "Just give me some time alone, please". It wasn't a question.

"Sure, ok," she said, feeling stinging beginning behind her eyes. Her throat felt like it was closing up and she could barely breath.

…...

Arnold had skipped his next class and gone for a walk. What a great start to the new school year this was. Everyone was staring at him, whispering about him. He hadn't recognized anyone in the class he was in. he looked down at his feet and walked into the park. His best friend had betrayed him, not once, but twice. Lila wasn't speaking to him, and Phoebe shot sympathetic looks his way, but didn't approach. Nadine had approached him, and hit on him, but he just smiled and politely excused himself. He couldn't stand being around people right now. He sighed and looked up at the blue sky. Such a nice day for such a terrible thing to happen. He had no idea what he was going to tell his parents and grand-parents, and didn't want to think about it.

"Oof!" he fell to the ground after something - or someone - banged into him. He looked to see who it was, though he had a fair idea who it could be. Only one person could walk into him like that knocking him off his feet. And he was right.

"Sorry," he said, standing up and brushing himself off before holding his hand out for Helga to grab. But she didn't. she just sat there.

"Helga?" he asked again. She shook her head, stood up and kept running. He sighed, then saw she had dropped her phone. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. She'd either come back for it, or he'd drop it off on his way home.

…...

Helga eventually slowed down. She was gasping for breath, she had a stitch and could barely see. She was pretty sure she had almost been run over by a bus, too, but since she was still standing she didn't give it a second thought. Her heart actually hurt. There was a physical pain there. She'd cried from the moment Derek had walked away, and was still crying. It would stop then start again. Walking over to the bus stop she slumped down on the bench, crossing her arms. How had everything gone so wrong? She put her head in her hands and rested for about ten minutes then got up and walked the rest of the way to her house.

She slipped in quietly when she finally got home and laid down in her room. A few minutes later she was up and into the bathroom to be sick.

"Helga, honey? Are you alright in there?" Miriam's voice called through the door.

"I'm fine," she croaked out, then slumped down on the floor. The bathroom door opened and Miriam walked in.

"Are you sure? You didn't lock the do-," she stopped when she saw her daughter's face, red and tear stained, with puffy eyes. "Oh, god. Your pregnant, aren't you?"

Helga stared at her mother like she was mad.

"No, mom, I'm not pregnant," she said quietly.

"Oh, well, that's good," she said. "Um, are you hungry?"

"No, Miriam. I'm not hungry. I just want to go sleep," Helga said quietly, getting up and going over to the sink to rinse her mouth and brush her teeth.

"Have a shower," Miriam said. "It always makes me feel better,"

Helga just nodded. Well, at least Miriam was trying.

…...

Arnold walked up the steps to the Pataki's front door and knocked. He waited for a little bit before finally hearing someone on the other side.

"Yes?" Miriam asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, is Helga home?" he asked.

"Helga? Oh right, Helga. Yeah, she's in her room I think . . . Or she was half an hour ago. I don't think she's left…" Mrs. Pataki's sentence just kind of drifted off and she moved aside to allow him entrance. He hesitated a moment, then entered.

"Just go upstairs, turn right and her room's at the end," she said, then went into the kitchen. There was a really nice smell coming from there. He heard Olga laugh, so figured that must be why. Slowly he made his way upstairs to Helga's room, then knocked on her door.

"About time Li-" she yanked the door open, then stared at him in shock. "What? Where's . . . your not Lila," she sputtered.

"Uh, no," he said. "I have your phone". he held it out to her and she looked at it like she'd never seen it before. Her door opened a bit more and she reached around to check the back pockets of her jeans.

"Son of a -" she muttered, then reached forward and took her phone. "Thanks".

"Your welcome," he said. Then they stood there in awkward silence looking at each other.

"So, um, what were you doing in the park?" Helga asked. "Shouldn't you have been at school?"

"Yeah, but…" how could he explain it? But the look on her face, and her nodding her head made him realise he didn't need to. She'd know. "Did you catch up to Derek?"

Helga took a deep breath then released and bit her lip.

"Yeah. Yeah I did," she said, looking down at the floor.

"What happened?" he asked.

Helga sighed and stepped back. And waved him in.

"He's still not ready to talk," she said, flopping down on her bed. "It's not good".

Arnold was quiet for a moment, but looked around her room. Her dresser mirror had photo's of her, Derek and Lila, her and Lila and her and Derek and her with other friends (not one of Phoebe though, he noted) stuck to it. There was a strip of pictures of her and Derek pulling faces in one of those photo booths. Her room had changed. the blue wallpaper with hearts was gone. Instead it was an off-white with a feature wall, that had enlarged photo's, paintings, and needlepoint pictures on it. It looked pretty awesome.

"This is cool," he said.

"Thanks. I couldn't be bothered with wall paper, and plain paint is boring, so I did it in a light colour and turned it into a feature," she said. She sat up.

"Did you do these?" he asked, pointing to the needlepoint work. His jaw dropped when she answered him.

"Yeah. Calms me down," she said. He turned to see her pick up one and wave it around. "Stress relief. I can crochet too . . . But if you dare tell anyone . . ." she left the threat open.

"Helga?" Lila's voice called out. She walked into the room, then saw Arnold. Her eyes darkened. "Arnold,"

"Hi Lila," he said, slight defiance in his voice. He wasn't going to be chased away by her.

"Ok, Football Head, girl time. And last I checked, you weren't a girl," she joked, coming over and steering him out of her room. "See ya at school," she said with a small smile and closed her bedroom door.

Arnold sighed. Why did Lila have to show up?

…...

"Helga, what was he doing here?" Lila hissed, stalking over to her best friend.

"I bumped into him at the park-"

"And brought him home?" Lila asked, near hysterical.

"No. shut up and let me finish. I bumped into him, dropped my phone, and he came by to drop it off," she explained.

"Helga, your supposed to be patching things up with Derek," she lectured.

"I tried, Li, but he wont listen to me. He told me he doesn't want to talk right now," she chocked on the last word, then felt angry as she started to cry. Lila stood there watching her for a moment, then softened and went and put her arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Helga. Do you want me to try talking to him?" she asked quietly. Helga shook her head.

"This is between me and Derek," she said.

Lila pulled back a bit, obviously offended.

"No offence, Li. I just think the less people talking with us, the better, you know? Better to talk directly to each other, rather than through someone else. No need to play chinese whispers,"

Lila nodded.

…...

Derek had a lot to think about. He was thinking about Helga and Arnold, thinking about himself. Thinking about Lila. He sighed, and fell back on his bed. Twice now, things had gotten a little carried away with Lila. The first time was just before they made the trip to see Helga. It was the whole reason he decided to see her. He and Lila had been hanging out, when Lila kissed him. Just like that. He pulled back, and asked her what was going on. She had looked embarrassed and apologised.

That afternoon he decided to go visit Helga.

Then, there was the time just after they had come back from him finding out. Lila had kissed him again. Again he had pulled away and turned her down. "Two wrongs don't make a right," he'd said. Lila shook her head.

"You wont win, Derek. Not against Arnold," she'd said, then left him sitting in his car.

Then seeing her hanging out with Helga, acting as best friend and confidante, he couldn't face her. How could she put Helga down to him, but defend her against others? One thing he hated, was girls who played games. After all, if she would play games before they got into a relationship, what's to say she wouldn't play them after too?

So he felt angry and guilty all at the same time. Hence the reason he didn't want to talk. He had too much to think about.


	10. Chapter 10

"Arnold! Is that you?" his mother's voice called out. Arnold froze. What was he going to say?

"Yeah," he said, walking into the lounge.

"What is going on?" she demanded. "We got a call from first the Johansons, then the school, and the police came by . . . I mean, what happened? You hadn't even been at school a whole day!"

Arnold sat on the couch.

"What were you told?" he asked.

His mother stared at him for a moment, then sighed.

"Let's wait for your father to get home. Then we'll talk," she said.

That was never good.

…...

"Did you hear? Rhonda and Gerald got arrested!" Sid said.

"No way!" Harold yelled.

Rumors were flying around the school. Derek kept his stare straight ahead, trying to ignore it all. He doubted they would have been arrested, but he'd say they would have gotten in a lot of trouble.

He saw Lila standing by his locker.

Of course she would be. Helga wasn't here. He sighed and entered the boys bathroom. He didn't want to deal with her. Not after yesterday. She'd been texting him all day and night, and he'd ignored all of them.

"Hey," he turned to see Arnold also hiding in there. Derek sighed.

"Hi," he replied. They stood there in awkward silence. What do two young men talk about in a bathroom anyway? He wondered.

"So . . . Hiding out?" he asked.

"Yep," Arnold said, looking at the wall.

"Cool," was all Derek could think to say. It was such an awkward situation he couldn't even bring himself to say something mean, or maybe hit the guy. It was just . . . Weird. They both sighed in relief as the bell rang.

"See you in class," Arnold said, and left.

"Hey, can you do me a favour first?" Derek asked. Arnold tensed.

"Depends," he said warily.

"Can you tell me if Lila is down the hall?"

Arnold gave him a funny look.

"Uh, sure," he said and looked out. "Yeah, she's by your locker".

"Damn," Derek muttered. "Thanks,"

"No problem," Arnold said, and continued on his way out.

Derek sighed and decided it was time to face the music.

…...

Lila looked down the hall again and saw Arnold look at her, then go back into the boys bathroom. A couple seconds later he walked out and to class. She looked at her watch, then up and down the hall again. Then frowned as she saw Derek also come out of the boys bathroom. What had they been doing in there together? She wondered. Eventually Derek made his way to his locker.

"I've been waiting for you," she said.

"Have you?" he asked, opening his locker.

"Yeah. I need to apologise," she said.

"For what?"

"You know. Look, I hate you avoiding me. I love being your friend. And I know I was wrong to say what I did. Its just so frustrating!" she said. "Anyway, I'm sorry,"

"Apology accepted," he said, smiling at her.

"Well, I saw Helga. She's real cut up about your meeting with her yesterday. You should probably talk to her or something," Lila said. Now Derek really was suspicious. Was Lila playing a game? Or had Helga's stunt made him suspicious of the girls in his life?

"Yeah," he said. "I'll prob head over there after school today,"

"well, good. I know she misses you," Lila said.

"Yeah," Derek went back to getting his books. "We better get going".

…...

The day dragged for Arnold. Everyone was gossiping about the absence of Gerald and Rhonda. He'd heard some pretty far out stories, and as much as he hated to admit it to himself, he wanted to call Gerald to find out what had really happened.

But then he would remember what he'd done. And what Rhonda had done. And he'd feel so angry and hurt. But at least they had stopped talking about him and Helga.

After thinking on it a while he decided that he'd call him tonight.

"Hi Arnold," Lila said. Arnold looked up at her. She was striking. She still had that same innocent look about her. Though Arnold knew better. She was one girl where looks were most definitely deceiving.

"Hey," he said, looking at his book. Lila didn't leave, just stood there. "Uh, do you want something?"

"I know your in Helga's English class. I'm banned from the room," she told him smiling. "So I was wondering if you could pass on any notes from class to me. I can take them to her after school".

"Sure," he said. He went back to his book.

"Look Arnold. I know we started off on the wrong foot, and I'm sorry about that. But…" she stopped and looked over towards the doors where Derek was walking out of. "But…uh. Yeah".

Arnold looked at her really hard. It was like she'd just completely forgotten what she was saying when she saw Derek. And then it hit him.

Lila liked Derek!

…...

Derek knocked on the door and waited until Mrs, Pataki opened it.

"Oh, Derek, hello!" she greeted happily. "Come in, I think Helga is up in her room".

"Thank you Mrs. Pataki," he said politely.

"Please," she said. "Call me Miriam. I tell you that every time". Derek just smiled and nodded, then made his way up to Helga's room.

"Such a lovely young man," he heard Miriam sigh out loud. Her crush on him was a running joke between Helga and him. He smiled.

God he missed her. Could he forgive her?

…...

Helga heard knocking on her door and called out for the person to come in. she had gotten board and decided to paint her one side of her wall. She was sketching her designs on it, then quickly looked up to see who had entered, and dropped her pencil.

"Derek?" she breathed. She couldn't help it. He just had that effect on her.

"Hey," he said. He stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Um, come in," Helga said, waving him in, she walked over to her desk and attempted to clear it.

"Uh, it's cool, I can sit on the bed," Derek said, and did so. For a while they just stared at each other, then Derek started.

"I'm sorry I've been avoiding you," he said.

"I can kind of understand why," Helga said. She walked over and sat next to him.

"It wasn't just because I had to figure out how I felt about you. Something else happened over summer," he told her. Helga's heart stopped. She felt like she wanted to throw up. What was he going to say?

"Look, theres no way to break this gently, so lets just rip it off in one go," he stood up, ran his hands through his hair, took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Lila kissed me. Twice," he said.

Helga sat stunned. Lila? The one she had been confiding in this whole time? Lila had kissed her boyfriend? Twice? Helga looked down at her hands which were balling into fists. For a good year or so Helga had kept in check the child she had been. She had been locked away and gagged in the farthest corners of her mind and heart. Arnold had handed her the key to her cage, Rhonda had opened it. And Lila had called her out. All the restraints Helga had used to keep her in check . . . They were melting away, and she was coming back. She could practically feel the cow's bones breaking under her fists.

"Helga?" Derek's voice called, as if from far away.

"What did you do?" she whispered. _Please, please…._

"Told her I wasn't interested. Even after finding out what you and Arnold had done. I just . . . I couldn't," he said.

Helga let out a small sob. She was raging angry. Her new self was saying "_you have a cheek to be angry at a kiss, considering what you did_," but that old her was saying "_what gives that bitch the right? After all you did for her? She couldn't even take you on when you were at yourstrongest, but waited til she thought you were at your weakest._"Look, she apologised and admitted it should never have happened," he said, seeing something rise in Helga that he didn't like. "Besides, all things considered, its not that bad".

He realised after he said those words it was the wrong thing to say.

"I've been sulking and feeling sick with guilt since that night happened," she started, finally looking up at him. He took a step back. "You've made me feel awful! She's made me feel awful, like the worst person in the world, for keeping "secrets", and the whole time . . ." she stopped. She couldn't breath.

"And then . . . _you _. . . _defend_ her actions? By throwing up in _my face_ what happened with Arnold!" she finished with a shout.

"Look, I'm not defending her-" he started to say

"GET OUT!" Helga screamed pointing at her bedroom door. "JUST GET OUT!"

Derek moved to touch her but she pulled back.

"This whole time! I thought you were thinking about _you_ and _me_! But you weren't. You were thinking about _her_ and you! About her! _Why_? Why would you need to do _that?" she demanded._

"_I . . . I don't . . ."_

"_Did you want to kiss her back?" Helga asked. Derek shook his head._

"_Of course not. I love you," he said._

_Helga stared at him a moment. He loved her?_

"_Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. "I've been confiding in her all our problems,"_

"_It didn't seem important," he shrugged._

_Helga didn't know wether that was a good thing or a bad thing. She sat down again._

"_Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you when it happened. Its just . . . She was the only person you were close with other than me," he said. "I didn't want to break up your friendship. But then when she said . . ." he stopped._

"_What? What did she say?" Helga demanded. Derek looked down._

"_That I would never win," he told her quietly._

"_Win? Win what?" she asked._

"_You. She said I could never win over Arnold,"_

_Helga was quiet for a moment, then shook her head._

"_You already have. So I don't know what she's on about," she muttered._

_Helga moved forward and took his hands in hers._

"_I love you Derek. And what I did was stupid. I know that. I hate saying it, but there was an unfinished chapter in my life regarding Arnold," she told him. "It closed that night. I promise,"_

"_So it meant something?" he asked. Helga sighed._

"_Yeah. It meant I had to close that chapter. I wish I'd done it another way," she said._

"_Well, at least you didn't risk us for nothing, I guess"._

…_..._

_Lila walked up the stairs and knocked on Helga's bedroom door. Arnold had gotten Helga's homework, and some other people from her other classes had given her what she needed. She sighed. She should have taken Arnold up on his offer to drive her here, then home. There was no answer, but she could hear Helga's metal music playing, so just assumed that she wasn't answering because she couldn't hear her. So she just opened the door and walked in._

_There are some things in life you never want to see. One of those is your two best friends in the froes of passion. The second is when one of those friends are someone your in love with. Lila dropped the papers and back out, banging into the doorframe and finally getting Helga's attention._

"_Oh, jeez!" she shouted, trying to cover herself. Derek stopped and turned to see a stunned Lila standing there, mouth open, groping around to find the exit._

"_I'm . . .I . . . sorry!" she yelled, finally finding the opening and falling backwards through it. She landed with a thump, then got to her feet and rushed down the stairs and out the front door and down the road. _

_Her heart was breaking. She hated herself, but hanging out with Derek over summer . . . she had developed strong feelings for him. She loved him. And she secretly thought he was too good for Helga._

_And she'd never betray him like she did either._

…_..._

_Arnold took a deep breath and dialled the number for the Johannsons. He hadn't spoken to Gerald since the incident._

"_Hello?" Mr. Johannsons voice answered._

"_Uh, hi Mr. Johannson, it's Arnold," he said tentatively. Gerald's father was quiet a moment._

_What can I do for you?" he finally asked._

"_Is it possible to talk to Gerald?"_

_Mr. Johannson was quiet for the longest time, before finally giving his answer._

"_Ok. But make it short. He's grounded". he listened as Mr. Johannson called Gerald down from his room. "It's Arnold," he heard._

"_Arnold?" Gerald asked._

"_Hey," Arnold answered._

"_Man, I am so sorry!" Gerald said. "I don't-"_

"_Don't worry about it. You made a mistake right?"_

"_Tell me about it," Gerald mumbled. "Can you forgive me?"_

"_I don't know. Not right now, I'm still too mad," Arnold said._

"_I understand"._

"_So, uh, what's happened?" Arnold asked._

"_I'm being expelled," Gerald said. "Dad's sending me to this private school, which sounds like a glorified military school if you ask me. Says It seems I need the dicipline. It's going through the Youth court, luckily. Lawyer reckons it will be a lot of community service,"_

"_So you got arrested?" Arnold asked._

"_Charged with supplying objectionable material, but there's not much else they can do as I deleted the video from my phone and Phoebe deleted the pictures," Gerald said. "Rhonda's in more trouble than I am though. She's getting charged with supplying objectionable material to minors, because of the video. Not only that, but she sent it to people's emails, and because you guys are technically underage, and some of the people she sent it to were waaaaay underage, she's in real shit street," he finished._

"_Oh," Arnold said. Well at least he knew the story now._

"_Gerald," Arnold heard his father say in the background._

"_Man, I gotta go," Gerald said. "Again, I'm really sorry. If I could go back in time I'd take it all back"._

"_I know," Arnold said. "Well, good luck at this new school,"_

"_Yeah. Later?" he asked, more as a question._

"_Yeah," Arnold said. "Later"._

_As he hung up the phone it sunk in._

_It was going to be a long time before he saw Gerald again._

_If he ever did._

…_..._

_Lila was in tears, and didn't want to go home to face her fathers questions so she walked around town for a while. Finally she stopped in front of the Sunset Arms. Should she see if Arnold was home? Mend the bridge? She sighed and went to turn away to walk home when she heard the door open, and saw Arnold step out._

"_Lila?" he asked surprised. "Hey, are you ok?"_

"_They're back together," she said, trying to smile through the tears. "Derek and Helga, I mean"._

"_Oh," Arnold said, his shoulders slumping a bit. Lila knew she must look like an absolute mess._

"_Do you want to come in or something?" Arnold asked._

_Lila nodded, then made her way upstairs._

_She was going to need a friend . . ._


	11. Chapter 11

(AN: Yeah, I'm not sure what's up with the italics at the end. There's none before I upload…)

"Can you believe it? Tasha Whittling is pregnant!" a girl whispered to another girl next to Helga's locker. She gave a soft snort. The girls walked away and Derek looked at her.

"The amount of times we've done it on a whim, I'm surprised you never have," he whispered.

"Mirena," Helga said.

"My-what?"

"It's a device that works as contraception. I was allergic to the pill," she told him. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Poor girl," he said. "Her boyfriend was a real dick. Not the type to stick around".

"I'm just happy the topic is off me," Helga said. "I know that's a mean thing to say, but it's true,"

Derek nodded. It took a few days for the gossip about Helga and Derek getting back together to die down. Helga rolled her eyes. So many more girls were swooning for him now, and she'd heard more than a couple of girls go on about how wonderful he was to "forgive her for such a horrible thing". Helga admitted, he was awesome. She smiled. Awesome and hers!

…...

Half way through English that afternoon someone knocked on the door and asked for Arnold. He needed to report to the principal's office. He looked over at Helga, who gave him a small smile and nod. She'd drop by with his homework. He got up, collected his stuff and left the classroom.

His heart was beating hard and fast. He couldn't think of any reason to be called out of class.

Until he entered and saw his mother sitting in the office, her eyes red rimmed and a little puffy.

"Oh, Arnold," she said, coming over to wrap her arms around him. "Your grandmother's in the hospital".

Arnold's heart stopped. Hospital?

"I need to get you over there. It's not good," she told him. He stepped back and spoke to the principal for a moment. Arnold didn't hear a word she said. There was a buzzing in his ears. He didn't even realize he was at the hospital until he looked up when the car stopped.

"Come on, Arnold. This might be our last chance to say good-bye," she said, taking in a ragged breath.

Arnold got out of the car and followed his mother into the hospital and through the wards.

…...

Helga walked up the steps of the boarding house and knocked. She waited a moment before Arnold finally answered the door.

"Your homework," she said, handing him a folder. "Not just from English, either."

Then she noticed his face.

"Jeez, who died?" she asked, thoughtlessly.

Arnold looked up at her as a tear slid down his cheek.

"My grandmother".

…...

Helga didn't want to be there, but she couldn't not be there. He needed support and hadn't yet gotten around to calling anyone else.

"What about Lila?" she asked.

"Definately not Lila," he said. "Girl has a story for everything, and though her heart might be in the right place, I really don't feel like listening to her prattle on about the time her friends auntie's cousin's classmates grandma died, or whatever".

Helga chocked back a laugh. It really wasn't an appropriate time to laugh, but he had a point.

"I just want company. But quiet company. Someone who will sit there, but not say anything," he explained.

"I can do that," she said.

"What about Derek?" he asked with a slight bitter tone to his voice. Helga blinked at him.

"I'll give him a call, explain what happened. He'll be fine with it," she said, not really believing her words, and she could tell Arnold didn't either. "I should probably go call him."

She went up on the roof .

"Hey," he answered.

"Hey," Helga said, unease in her voice, "Um, something's kinda come up,"

"What do you mean? wait, were we supposed to be doing something?"

"No!" Helga said. "No, uh, I just dropped Arnold's homework off to him,"

"Okay," he said, an edge to his voice.

"Um, he got some pretty bad news," she said quietly.

"Well, why isn't Lila or someone there?" he snapped.

Helga was quiet for a moment, as was Derek.

"Look, I'm sorry," Derek said. "I have to get to work".

"You got a job?" Helga asked surprised.

"Yeah, at that skate shop," he told her.

"That's so cool!" she squealed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because I just got the call. I need to go in and do orientation or something," he told her. "I'll call you tonight. And pass my sympathies on to Arnold," and then he hung up. Just like that.

Helga looked at her phone for a moment, then put it in her bag. What should she do? Go home and leave Arnold? Or stay here for company, and support him? She was torn inside. She wanted to be friends with Arnold, but she didn't want to upset Derek.

"Back," she said with a smile.

"Was he angry?" Arnold asked. Was it evil that he was hoping she would say yes?

"Well, he wasn't impressed, but understands," she lied. "And he passes on his condolences."

Arnold nodded. "Wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure. I can go out and grab snacks," she offered.

"No, its ok. I'll bring something up from the kitchen. Trust me, everyone becomes a chef and baker when someone dies," he said, getting up and leaving his room.

A couple seconds after he left her phone went off.

Derek.

"Hey," she answered.

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry about before," he said.

"It's fine. I'd probably be the same if you told me you were hanging out with Lila," she said. At that she felt anger rising in her. She really, really wanted to hit that girl.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"I love you," Helga said.

"I love you too," Derek finished, and hung up.

"Back," Arnold said, carrying a plate with biscuits, cake and muffins.

"Wow!" Helga exclaimed.

"Yeah, we have stews, soups and cassaroles and pies galore. Mom's talking about driving around giving them to homeless people," he told her.

"Nice," Helga said, picking up a piece of cake. They ate in silence for a while, neither saying anything. For the first time since summer Arnold was thinking about someone other than the girl in front of him while she was in front of him. He was thinking of his grandma and all their misadventures together over the years.

"Gonna be strange without your grandma around," Helga said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Arnold asked.

"She's always been there, you know? Like a historic building that you see everyday but don't really take much notice of unless something is either happening there, or its suddenly gone," she explained.

"I spose," he said, trying not to cry.

Helga laid back on the floor and looked up at the passing clouds through the skylight.

…...

Arnold opened his eyes when he heard a strange ringtone going off. He looked around and saw Helga, lying on the floor, hands behind her head, asleep, was responsible. He went over and tapped her shoulder.

"Helga, your phone," he whispered. She reached into her pocket and handed it to him without opening her eyes. He looked at the screen

Derek.

He had three options. Answer and cause waves, ignore the call and cause waves, or wake Helga up and let her answer it.

He didn't feel like confrontation at that moment, so he chose ignore. Placed the phone beside her and went and sat on his bed.

"Who was it?" she mumbled, finally opening her eyes to look at him.

He stared and thought. Should he tell her?

"No number," he said finally.

"Ugh, telemarketers probably. Hate those guys," she told him, picking up her phone and looking at the time.

"Oh, shit!" she yelled. "I have to go". she looked over at him.

"I'll be fine," he said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he answered. They were both quiet a moment.

"Okay, cool," she said. "Um, yeah, call if you need to talk or whatever,

"I will". Helga nodded then left.

Arnold sat back and sighed. They hadn't watched the movie…

…...

Derek tossed his phone on his bed and sighed angrily. Okay, he normally wasn't a violent or angry person, but at this moment he was more than a little pissed off. Of all people for Helga to show sympathy to, Arnold. Lila's words came back to haunt him.

To top it off he'd tried to call her and she didn't answer. It didn't even get to "leave a message". it just cut off meaning she's hit ignore. And she hadn't sent a text or called him back. He was really beginning to wonder if he could do this? Was it always going to be this way when she was around Arnold? He hated the feeling of jealousy - and yes, he was man enough to admit that that was what it was - and suspicion. His phone went off and he answered it quickly without looking to see who it was.

"Hi, Derek," Lila's voice said.

"Lila?" he asked. "I mean, hi . . . Lila".

"I just saw Helga leaving Arnolds house," she blurted.

This was another thing. He could see it coming. Lila was always going to report to him now when Helga spoke to Arnold, or looked at Arnold. He wouldn't be surprised if the girl learned to read minds so she would know when Helga even thought about Arnold.

Lila was really ticking him off. And to think a couple months ago they were best friends.

"Yeah, I know," he said.

"Oh".

"Yeah. His grandmother died," he told her.

"Oh no," she said. "Maybe I should give him a call or something".

"Yeah, maybe you should," Derek said, and hung up on her.

He was not in the mood.

…...

"Hey," Helga said, wrapping her arms around Derek. Derek looked at her and smiled, but Helga could tell he wasn't happy. "Are you mad about last night?"

"Wouldn't you be if you called me while I was with an ex, who I cheated on you with, and instead of answering ignored your call?" he whispered in her ear. Helga pulled back and looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about? I answered your calls," she said.

"I called a third time to let you know I got away early and to see if you wanted to catch a late night snack and you didn't answer," he told her. Helga looked at him a moment, then it dawned on her. She sighed.

"Sorry," she said. "I got Arnold to answer it and he told me it was a No Number," she explained. Derek's jaw clenched. He was answering her phone now?

"Uh huh," he said absent mindedly.

"I'm sorry, I wont make that mistake again," she said.

…...

Lila found Derek at lunchtime walking away from the school.

"Derek?" she called, chasing after him. He stopped and turned and gave her a smile. Lila couldn't help but feel it was forced.

"Hey, Lila, what's up?" he asked,

"Not a lot. Are you eating out today?" she asked.

"Yeah, not really feeling like eating with the rest of everybody," he told her, running his hand through his hair.

"Um, would like the company of at least one person?" she asked.

Derek thought about it for a moment.

"Sure, why not?"

…...

Helga caught Phoebe and asked if she'd seen Derek.

"No, sorry, I haven't.," she said. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know. I think I stuffed up again. Jesus, you would think I'd be a little more considerate about sensitive issues," she told her.

"Why? What's wrong?" Phoebe inquired.

"I . . . Arnold's grandma passed away yesterday," Helga told her.

"Oh, my!"

"Yeah, and I went around with his homework and he was feeling down so I said yes to hanging out. Then I called Derek to let him know where I was. You know, in case someone said something to him or something. He wasn't happy, but called me back and seemed ok," Helga stopped for a breath. "But then he called and Arnold answered the phone, only he didn't. he hit ignore and told me it was No Number. So I didn't call him back".

Phoebe shook her head. How did Helga get herself into these situations. Though she had to admit, she'd missed this.

"Have you told Derek?" Phoebe asked.

"Of course! But that seemed to make him ever madder, and now I cant find him and he's not answering my texts," she said, near hysterical.

"Well, first of all, Helga, calm down and take deep breaths. Your getting hysterical," Phoebe told her. "Second, I think we should go for a short walk, clear our heads".

Helga nodded. A walk would do her some good.

…...

"I already told you, Derek," Lila said, stirring the sugar into her coffee. "Arnold was Helga's first love, and the saying is you always go back to your first love, given the chance".

"I hate feeling like this," he said. "It's making me physically ill".

"Maybe it's time to end things?" she asked, hope blooming in her heart of hearts.

"I know. I just…" he trailed off as he saw Helga and Phoebe across the road. He froze for a moment. Would they look this way and see them?

"Think about it," Lila said. Reaching out and touching his hand with hers. "She cheated on you with Arnold, then she hangs out with him, knowing how you feel about things".

Derek was regretting saying anything to Lila. How could he have been so stupid, especially knowing how she felt about him. Of course she would be keen for him and Helga to break up.

But then, she wasn't saying anything he hadn't been thinking anyway.

He looked up and saw Phoebe look at them, then she wrapped an arm around Helga's shoulders and walked away with her. Great, now Helga had seen them.

…...

Helga sighed as she left the school building. She hadn't spoken the Derek since that morning. Not even in shared classes. He was avoiding her.

"Helga?" Derek said. She spun around and went to hug him but stopped when she saw the look on his face. Something was wrong.

"Yeah?" she asked, automatically crossing her arms in self defence. Another old habit crawling to the surface.

"Look, I can explain about lunchtime and Lila," he said. Helga didn't show that she didn't know what he was talking about. She just nodded.

"Go on," she said.

"I just needed to think, and get away and she caught up with me and went along. It was coffee and we talked about some things, that was it," he said.

"What kind of things?" she asked.

"Just … stuff,"

"About us?" she demanded.

"Well, yeah," he admitted.

"After everything you know now?"

He was silent.

"Look, we need to talk," he said, taking her hand. She snatched it back.

"Fine let's talk," she said, walking out ahead of him.

…...

Arnold had just finished dinner and sat down when Erine came in to tell him a girl was at the door. He rolled his eyes, thinking it was Lila.

Instead it was a tear stained, puffy eyed Helga standing there. She wasn't crying now. But she had been. He waved her in and they went upstairs to his room.

"I don't feel like going home," she explained.

"What happened?" he asked. Helga shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said. "How are you, anyway? And the rest of your family?"

"Grandpa . . . he . . . isn't coping to well," Arnold admitted. "Dad's dealing with both grief and guilt. Mom is doing her bit to help, but Dad is being stubbourn, and grandpa . . ."

"It must be hard. Loving someone and being with someone for so long, having them always be there, then suddenly they're not," she said.

Arnold looked over at her.

"So what about you?" he asked again. Helga sighed.

"He broke up with me," she said. "Said he couldn't trust me and that it was making him sick, just the idea of me hanging around you and he hated feeling jealous and distrustful blah blah blah".

"I'm sorry, Helga," he said. She smirked at him.

"No your not," she accused. Arnold said nothing. She wasn't lying.

He didn't feel bad about it.


	12. Chapter 12

The drama was all over school. Again. Helga couldn't believe it. She was the topic of conversation, again, and was hating it. Derek had again gone cold on her, and her heart broke. She really loved him. Of course Arnold was there to comfort her. Lila tried comforting Derek, but he pushed her away. The constant rejection was really starting to get to Lila. She saw how much it pained Derek to see Helga everyday, with Arnold hanging around her, and she felt so, so angry with her.

"Seeing her every day . . . It's getting harder, not easier," he said.

"Well, she looks to have moved on, Derek," Lila said. She touched his arm. "Maybe it's time for you to as well."

Derek shook his head and walked away from her.

She silently fumed. She'd had it. No way was Helga and Arnold getting away with this.

…...

~Two Month's Later ~

"So are we going to this dance the school's holding?" he asked.

"We?" she asked.

"Yeah. I wouldn't mind going," he said, reaching for her hand.

She hesitated, before letting him hold it. She still wasn't a hundred percent sure she wanted to be with Arnold. But no harm in testing the waters. She was single now, after all. Her heart hurt at that thought, and she pulled her hand from Arnolds. She wasn't ready. He seemed to understand and just smiled at her.

She stopped at her locker and looked for what she was going to need for the day. Arnold continued without her.

She looked around, feeling eyes on her, to see Lila, glaring at her. Helga looked away. What was her problem, anyway? She was the one who's heart had been broken, not Lila's. Lila, back-stabbing tramp that she is, went after Derek first chance she got. She was probably the reason behind Derek breaking up with her. She's the one who should be glaring across the hallway!

She slammed her locker shut and went to class, feeling more and more pissed off at Lila. But there was nothing she could do about it. She was still being watched after her showdown with Rhonda.

…...

"So do you want to go to this dance? Arnold asked.

"You really want to go?" Helga asked.

Arnold nodded. Helga sighed.

"Fine," she said. "I'll go. But as friends only."

Arnold smiled and they agreed on a time. Helga looked around to see Derek looking their way with a hurt expression. She looked away. Lila, as usual, was with him.

…...

"Let's go to the dance, together," Lila said.

Derek looked up at her. He didn't want to go with her. He wanted to go with Helga.

"I'll think about it," he said.

"I heard Helga and Arnold were going together," she said.

It didn't have the desired affect on him.

"What the hell is up with you?" he demanded. "Why would I want to go and subject myself to that?"

Lila's eyes went wide, and her chin started to tremble.

"I didn't mean . . . I mean, I'm sorry," she stammered.

Derek shook his head and continued playing with his food. He didn't feel like eating at all. Next Saturday was the dance. Without Rhonda to throw a before or after party many were at a loss as to what to do before and after. When fliers started appearing in lockers about an after party everyone was excited. No one knew who it was, though Sid said Fuzzy Slippers was behind it. Which got everyone even more excited. Very few people knew who Fuzzy Slippers was, and one of those people was no longer at the school.

Lila didn't bring up the dance until the Wednesday before, when she asked him what colour she should wear. It hurt her that he didn't seem to be at all interested in what she wore, or how she should wear her hair. She had to keep reminding herself that he wasn't her boyfriend.

Yet.

But she was working on it. If only he'd stop being so stubborn. If only Helga would just . . . Dissappear. Get out of the equation. Somehow, Lila knew everything would be all right then. But what could she do?

…...

~Night of the Dance~

"Helga, I need to borrow your car today," Olga said, coming down the stairs. "I need to an audition."

Helga whirled around t oglare at her sister.

"Where's your car?" she demanded. She didn't want to give up her car!

"In the shop," Olga said, sighing and taking a seat on Helga's bed.

Two days ago Olga had parked the car, but forgotten to put the handbreak on. When she got back to her car, it had rolled into a concrete wall, smashing the lights and breaking the trunk so it wouldn't close no. it was a couple thousand dollars worth of damage. Bob had gone off his rocker at her.

"Your getting to be as bad as your mother!" he'd yelled.

"I kinda need it for tonight," Helga said.

"Oh, I'll have it back on time!" Olga said. "I promise!"

Helga still want keen, but gave her sister the keys anyway.

"Thankyou baby sister!" Olga squealed, jumping up and hugging her tight.

"Yeah, yeah, just go before I change my mind," she said. Olga did, knowing there was a high chance her sister would change her mind.

Arnold was coming at seven. It was two now, so Helga went and had a bath. At three she finally got out, and started to get dressed. Arnold rung about four-thirty, asking if she wanted to get something to eat first. Hel said fine, and got dressed into something else. By six Helga was home and panicking. She had to get ready. Thankfully she just needed to touch up her makeup and hair, throw on the dress and she was ready.

Ten to seven and Olga still wasn't home. Helga frowned. So much for her sisters promise. She rung Arnold.

"No worried, Grandpa said we can use the Packard if we need to," he said.

Just as Arnold pulled up, Olga pulled in.

"Olga!" Helga yelled, coming down the stairs. She stopped when she saw her sister frowning.

"I'm sorry, Helga," she said, looking at the car with concern.

"What? What's wrong? What did you do?" Helga demanded, soing a quick walk around.

"Oh, nothing, it's just . . . It felt strange driving a different car, that's all," she said, smiling. "I got the part, by the way!"

"Awesome," Helga said, giving her sister a quick hug. "Arnold and I are going in his grandpa's car now, anyway."

"Helga!" a voice called out. She turned to see Phobe running up to her.

"Can I borrow your car?" she asked. "Please?"

"What? Why is everyone wanting my car?" she asked, looking at Arnold.

"It's a nice car," he said, smiling. "Anyway, hurry up, we need to get going."

"Fine," she said, taking the keys off her sister and handing them to Phoebe. "Why do you need it?"

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" she shouted, throwing her arms around her. "I'll be careful I promise! I'll even put gas in it."

"You'd better," she said. "But you didn't tell me why you needed it."

"I'm going with Sid, tonight," she said.

"Sid!?" both Helga and Arnold yelled in shock.

"It's platonic!" she yelled, defensively. "His dates sick, and I didn't have one."

"You can always come with us," Arnold said.

"Yeah," Helga added.

"No, its okay," she said smiling.

"Are you sure?" Helga asked. Phoebe nodded.

"See you guys there!" she said, before getting into Helga's car.

Helga got in next to Arnold and they made their way there.

"Huh, no punch," Helga said, walking in. drinks were bottled. And you weren't allowed to bring any in, either. The usual subjects had to empty their pockets so the school could be assure no alcohol would get on the premises. A few years back, the punch had been spiked an a couple of students had lost their lives driving drunk. Friends of the students had decided to have a dance a year after the accident to remember them and to push home the dangers of drinking. This was the fourth year the dance was held, even though the original students who came up with the idea were well gone. There were anti-drinking posters on the walls, and panthlets handed out as the students entered. Very few read them.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, regardless, and Helga and Arnold danced nearly every dance. She also danced with Stinky, Harold and Sid, too.

She even danced with Derek.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, after a few mintues of quiet dancing.

"Don't do this again, Derek," Helga snapped.

"Do what?" he asked, pulling back.

"The whole 'I'm sorry' speech. Twice now, I've heard it. You've broken up with me twice since school started. It's ridiculous," she said. She pulled away and looked for her date.

Just as she was nearing the table where Arnold was glaring from, she saw his face change, looking like he was about to call out to her, but she was shoved from behind, pushed into the table, and knocked a cup of punch on herself. She whirled around in a rage, about to deck whoever had pushed her. Only to see Lila.

"Your so selfish!" she screamed at Helga. People stopped dancing and were looking at the pair.

"Excuse me?" Helga asked, getting defensive.

"Helga, don't, she's no worth it," Arnold said quietly in her air. "Another fight and you'll be expelled."

"You sleep with Arnold, breaking Derek's heart, then you go and break up with him, only to want him back, and then when you do get him, you don't want him!" Lila yelled.

"It wasn't like tha-"

"Yes, it was. You just don't want anyone else to have him. Dancing with him back there. He still loves you, and all your doing is-"

"Lila, cut it out," Derek said from behind her, gabbing her arm. "Your making a scene."

"Your one to talk, Lila," Helga said. "Derek's broken up with me twice, and both times you were sniffing around."

"I was not!" Lila yelled.

"Yes, you were," Helga said, then she turned to look at Derek. "Admit it. It was something she said, or was saying that caused you to break up with me a second time."

Derek was quiet, which was all the proof Helga needed.

"And the whole time you were pretending to be my friend, listening to me tell you about the problems in our relationship!" Helga yelled at Lila.

Lila slapped Helga, and though she wanted to hit back, a teacher was there witnessing the whole thing.

"That's enough, Miss Sawyer. We wont have troublemakers in here," Mrs Denton said striding over, with a scowl and glare. "Please leave."

Lila continued to glare at Helga.

"I hate you," she finally says, before walking away.

Derek smiled apologetically.

"Helga, I'm-"

"Sorry, yeah, yeah, I've heard it before," she past. "She wants you, she can have you. Its over. Just stay away from me."

Helga finally gave way to the tears, burying her head in Arnold's shoulder.

Derek just shook his head and left.

…...

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the party with us?" Helga asked Phoebe.

She shook her head.

"Sid's gonna drop me home. I'm not up for partying tonight," she said, rubbing her stomach. "Aunt Flo's visiting."

"Oh, that sucks," Helga said. She turned to glare at Sid.

"If there is so much as a scratch on my car, so help me God . . ." she left the threat to dingle. Sid gulped and nodded.

"Come on, Helga, I think you've scared him enough for tonight," Arnold said, laughing and dragging her away.

"I mean it, Sid!" Helga yelled.

Phoebe chuckled.

"So shall we go?" she asked Sid.

"Yeah, thanks for coming with me tonight, Phoebe," he said. "It was cool hanging out with a chick and not having to try and impress her."

"Anytime," she said.

Out in the cool air, Sid opened the car and they both hopped in. They drove in silence and slowly. They were stopped by cops twice. Phoebe explained that it happened often to Helga, just because of the type of car she drove.

"Like I wasn't already nervous enough," Sid said.

When they got to Phoebe's house he waited til she was inside and had waved to him from her lounge window before he drove away. He drove a little slower, because he had noticed the breaks seemed soft. When his phone went off, he smiled. Helga had hands free so all he had t do was hit the button.

"Where are you man?" Stinky's voice asked.

"Helga's car. I'm on my way, give me ten mintues," he said.

"All right," Stinky said, and hung up.

Sid hadn't noticed that he had picked up speed a bit, not much, but he realised when he saw a bend coming up and put his foot on the break.

And nothing happened. Panicked he thought too late to use the handbreak and turned the wheel, but the car hit the ditch and flipped, landing on it's roof then flipped again. All Sid could hear, before everything went black, was glass smashing and metal crushing.

…...

It was Peapod and Nadine who came across the crash site. Peapod pulled over, and called out for Helga, but didn't get an answer. He was surprised when he looked in to see Sid was in there instead.

"Call 911!" he shouted back at Nadine, who was already on the phone.

"Sid! Can you hear me?" he called into the car. Sid didn't move or blink or anything. "Jesus, Sid!"

"The ambulance is on it's way!" Nadine called out. "Is she okay?"

"It's not Helga. It's Sid," he told her.

"Oh, no," she said, getting her phone out.

…...

Everyone was having a drink, or dancing, but everyone was enjoying themselves. Except Stinky. Lila noticed it first. He just happened to be near Helga, whom she was glaring at. Then Helga turned around, looking angry. Then shocked and scared. Then absolutely gob smacked.

Harold was there too, then he quickly moved away and shut off the music. He stood up on a chair, almost losing his balance, but Patty quickly stabalised the chair.

"Everyone, shut the fuck up!" he bellowed. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. "There's been an accident!"

There was a collective gasp from the room. Lila felt her stomach knotting. He looked over at Helga who was now looking devastated and was talking to Arnold, nearly hysterical.

'Oh, no,' she thought. She had seen Helga's car at the school. But then she'd seen Helga and Arnold arrive in his grandpa's Packard. Which meant . . .

"Sid's getting taken to hospital. He's been in a car accident," he finished.

Harold got down and walked over to Helga and Arnold. They spoke for a bit, Helga kept shaking her head. Then Arnold led her away and out of the party.

"Poor Helga," she heard Gloria say.

"Poor Helga? don't you mean poor Sid?" the girl next to her said.

"Yeah, but he was in her car when the accident happened," she said.

Lila felt like she was going to throw up.

What had she done?


End file.
